Ollphéist Álainn
by Rivendell101
Summary: All of Earthland is littered with Ollphéist, monsters enslaved by humans through sheer will power. These monsters are either murdered by the Zentopia Legion Corps for merely existing, or forced by cruel masters to fight to the death in the underground brawl rings of Veronica for entertainment purposes. Lucy is one such monster, but to Natsu she's a beautiful monster. NaLu AU HIATUS
1. Prologue: The Beginning

**AN: What am I doing!? I shouldn't be starting anther story! I got the idea for this from the first chapter of Stray Dog by VanRah. I haven't actually read the rest yet so if anything is similar it's a complete coincidence. **

**Summary: All of Earthland is littered with Ollphéist, monsters enslaved by humans through sheer will power. These monsters are either murdered by the Zentopia Legion Corps, or forced by cruel masters to fight to the death in the underground brawl rings of Edolas and Veronica. Lucy is one such monster.**

**Ollphéist Álainn**

**Prologue: The Beginning**

**{Blinded I can't see the end, so where do I begin?}**

**July 7, X781**

It's disgusting.

It's so incredibly disgusting what some people do to the Ollphéist. Humans treat them like dirt, abuse them, murder them in the most twisted ways. They're pretty much human too, save for their demonic qualities. Most even _look_ human.

Igneel can't believe how people can do that to another living creature and live with themselves afterwards. It isn't right. It just isn't right...

Of course, there are some good Ollphéist Masters in the world, not many, but some. Makarov Dreyar, for example, treats his Ollphéist like family. He doesn't beat them or force them to fight to the death in the underground Veronica rings. Well, not unless they want to, which most don't.

Igneel himself used to be an Ollphéist Master, but he stopped after the death of his Ollphéist, Draco, a large fire dragon. Draco's death hit Igneel hard, and since then he hasn't made any more contracts with the creatures. The worst part is that Draco was killed exactly four years ago today on July 7, X777.

He doesn't exactly want to be anywhere near the underground world today, but it takes Igneel a few seconds to remember that he isn't down here for himself, he's here for Natsu, his son who just turned fourteen a few months ago. You have to be at least fourteen to make a contract with an Ollphéist.

It seems even the black-market has some rules.

At first Igneel was entirely against Natsu signing a contract with a demon. Why would he ever let his son do something like that? The demons only ever cause pain and heartbreak. But, after months of encouragement from his friends and lots of yelling from his wife, Igneel finally agreed.

Igneel really doesn't have too much to worry about, Natsu is a good kid. He wouldn't do anything cruel to a Ollphéist, and if he ever does Igneel will kick his ass.

With a sigh Igneel runs his hand through his bright red hair. Could his hair be anymore obnoxious? Having a strange hair color isn't exactly uncommon in Fiore—or really Earthland in general—but red stands out more than anything else! Why can't he have blue hair like his wife? That would at least make him blend in a little bit. But, nope! Igneel looks like a torch compared to the dark, murky walls surrounding him. How peachy.

"Dad?" a soft voice calls from his right. "Where are we going?"

Igneel's looks down in time to catch the confusion and nervousness in his son's dark onyx eyes. He's lucky that he doesn't have Natsu hair, pink—_salmon _is even worse. At least Igneel was never teased in school for having girly hair—not that his son has girly hair!

Igneel smiles down at Natsu, ruffling his spiky hair playfully. "We're going to find an Ollphéist, Natsu. Remember?" he asks quietly. The silence around them is unnerving, but Igneel doesn't want to be the one to break it. "We're hear to find an Ollphéist Álainn and have it sign a contract with you."

Natsu nods once, but then starts to look even more confused. "Dad?" he asks again.

Igneel fights back a smile, Natsu always has been a curious kid, maybe not the brightest, but that doesn't matter.

"Yes?" he glances at Natsu again.

The fourteen year old runs his hand through his hair much like Igneel had just done. "What does 'Ollphéist Álainn' mean?"

Igneel blinks. Whatever it is he had been expecting Natsu to ask, this isn't it. Since when has Natsu become so perceptive? Igneel rubs his right hand across his face. "It means… 'Beautiful Monster'." Before Natsu can say anything else he continues. "They're classified as Ollphéist. Monsters. But, they are so incredibly amazing," he says almost wistfully. "For the right person they an be furiously devoted, caring, and loving. And they can be loyal to the point of sacrificing themselves just to save you," he whispers, swallowing down a sob. That's what Draco had done…

Igneel stops walking suddenly, nearly making Natsu run into him. "You need to promise me something," Igneel says, although it sounds more like a demand. He doesn't give Natsu a chance to answer. "You need to promise me that you'll never hurt an Ollphéist no matter what happens—"

"I—"

Igneel shakes his head, cutting Natsu off. "You have to promise to protect them just like they protect you. Be their friend, not their Master," he nearly hisses. He said the word "friend" with so much warmth that he can almost touch it. He really wishes that he could touch it. He looks down at Natsu. "Do you promise?"

Natsu opens his mouth to reply, but a deeper man's voice answers instead. "Igneel Dragneel." Igneel nearly flinches at the voice dripping with so much honey you could drown in it. He turns and catches sight of a slimy looking man with dark hair pushed back on his head and scars on both of his cheeks. The man grins and the only thing Igneel can think of is the word "snake". That's what this man is. A snake.

"Zoldeo," Igneel grumbles, fighting off the urge to snarl. This is the first time that Igneel has met Zoldeo, but he an already tell that the man is nothing but pure scum.

Zoldeo tilts his head to the side. "Are you here looking for a…" he trails off for a moment, a sick grin twisting across his features. "Pet?" he finishes.

Igneel wants to spit in his face. He doesn't even want to _think_ about what this man does to his Ollphéist. The sick bastard.

He merely smiles and places a hand on Natsu's shoulder, squeezing just a bit too tightly. He glances down and notices the hard look in his son's eyes. Good, so he isn't the only one that thinks Zoldeo is a disgusting creature.

"No," Igneel states calmly, trying to keep his grin from turning into a grimace. "My son here is looking for a companion," he replies, putting as much emphasis on companion as he possibly can.

"Companion?" Zoldeo asks, eyebrows knitting together. "I think your boy might be a little too young for a 'companion'." It takes Igneel a second to understand what Zoldeo means, but when he does understand he wants to scream. If Igneel wasn't already repulsed by this man he definitely is now.

"Not," Igneel spits out, "That sort of companion." This man is sick and Igneel really wants to get Natsu away from him as soon as humanly possible. Luckily Natsu can be about as dense as a rock sometimes or he would be throwing a fit about what Zoldeo had just said.

Zoldeo places his hands up in defense. "My mistake," he says coolly. "I was going to question it anyway. The boy seems like he would do better with something more powerful. A Minotaur perhaps."

Igneel barely manages to keep his distaste from showing. Minotaurs are a Titan Class Ollphéist. They're almost always used for fighting and can grow to be nearly forty feet tall. Unfortunately they're also one of the many Ollphéist without a sense of humanity. They're purely a machine built for bloodshed. There is no ounce of remorse or kindness within them. Other Titan's are Hellhounds and Giants; the latter of which _looks_ human.

Draco, when he was alive, was a Titan Class Ollphéist, only he was smarter and had a sense of humanity. Luckily the dragon was able to shrink down to the size of a common house cat otherwise there would have been a lot of problems about living space. Grandine can be a real devil when she wants to be and Igneel doesn't really want to think about how angry she would have been if he had tried to let a full grow dragon live in the house.

He unconsciously shivers. There's no Ollphéist on Earthland that's more terrifying than an angry woman. Well, except for an Ollphéist that's also a woman, but if someone is stupid enough to pick a fight with one of them then they probably have it coming.

Anyway, Natsu will not be having anything to do with the Titan Class, not at age fourteen. Especially if it's a brainless Minotaur. Natsu can do so much better than that. Like maybe a Centaur or a Neman Lion. Something that's at least a little bit smart; God knows that Natsu needs all the help that he can get.

Igneel shakes his head several times, realizing that Zoldeo has been staring at him expectantly for about a minute now. How embarrassing. "No, not a Minotaur, thank you," he says as curtly as he possibly can. "We're looking for something more…" how should he put this. "Human." Oops, he didn't mean for that to just slip out.

Zoldeo sneers at him, but luckily he doesn't say anything, and for that Igneel is thankful. He really doesn't want to snap and punch the older man, that would be a very bad example for Natsu to follow. You can't just go around and punch people you don't like, there are rules, albeit not many.

"Human," Zoldeo hisses, disgust written clearly on his face. "They aren't human, Mr. Dragneel. They're monsters." Igneel feels Natsu tense next to him and gives his shoulder a quick squeeze.

Not the time or place.

Igneel forces a smile. "I suppose that is something we disagree on." The direction of the situation keeps getting more and more sour, there's no reason for him to make it any worse.

Then again it would be kind of fun to watch Zoldeo's head pop if he got really angry. No, Igneel, behave. Violence is never the answer. Unless you're protecting a girl or small child. In that case violence is always the answer. Always.

Igneel's blinks once, trying to keep the small smile from spreading across his face. It takes him another two seconds to realize Zoldeo is still giving him a sour look. Oops, maybe he saw the smile.

"So it would seem," the dark haired man drawls. Yup, he's angry. Igneel would bet good money on Zoldeo wanting to kill him right now. Oh, well. Zoldeo an be angry if he wants to, that's not why Igneel and Natsu are here.

Wait, Natsu? Igneel's eyes shoot open wide and he gives himself whiplash as he twists to look at the young teenager next to him.

He takes in the clenched jaw and narrowed eyes of his son. Natsu looks about ready to burst into flames and destroy something. Great, he's angry too. Then again, Natsu has every right to be angry, Igneel does too. Ollphéist aren't scum on the bottom of a shoe. They're living, breathing creatures with feelings of their own.

Anyone who says otherwise is wrong.

Igneel gives Natsu's shoulder a hard squeeze, not hard enough to hurt him, but definitely enough to get his attention. Natsu's dark eyes flick up to meet his and Igneel shakes his head slightly. The movement was so subtle almost anyone else except for Natsu would miss it. It was nothing more than a twitch. Natsu only nods in understanding and drops his gaze to the ground.

With another squeeze to Natsu's shoulder, Igneel turns back to Zoldeo. "Can you help us or not?" Igneel all but snarls. "If not I'm sure I can find someone better to do the job." Igneel means that too. If Zoldeo can't help them than Brain—Zero, what ever his name is—probably can. "Maybe Zero."

He isn't sure if Zoldeo flinched due to the potential loss of a customer or because he mentioned Zero.

He doesn't really want to know anyway.

Zoldeo shifts in his spot for a few seconds and hen nods meekly. "Alright," he spits. "Alright, I'll help you, but you can't go to Zero." Igneel can't tell if it's a demand or a plea.

"Deal," Igneel agrees, voice booming. Zoldeo flinches again, but nods as well. That's a good sign, at least Zoldeo is still willing to help, plus he's afraid! That could possibly be of use to Igneel in the future, he might be able to scare Zoldeo into a discount.

The Ollphéist seller turns around and gestures for Igneel and Natsu to follow before stalking off, boots making almost no noise on the dirty stone floor. It's almost unnerving, Zoldeo is practically a ghost. It's like he's floating across the floor instead off walking on it.

Igneel glances down at Natsu at the same time Natsu looks up. They both just stare at each other for a second, and then Natsu just sort of shrugs nonchalantly and hurries after the creepy man. Igneel sighs and runs a hand down the side of his face.

So it begins.

He manages to catch up to them rather quickly, on the other hand Zoldeo isn't exactly rushing to show them an Ollphéist. Maybe that's a good thing though.

Zoldeo clears his throat, drawing Igneel's attention the sleazy man. Said man shots him a quick look before snapping his eyes back to the path in front of them. "There are several humanoid Ollphéist," he murmurs. "Wolfmen, Werecats, the demon foxes…" he trails off, pure rage flickering across his face. "Fucking Kitsune," he snarls suddenly.

Igneel dismisses it hastily. It isn't his business and he probably wouldn't like the answer anyway. He really doesn't like the way Zoldeo said "Kitsune" though. Something about the man's voice made the word seem vulgar and disgusting, but there's nothing wrong with the foxes. Out of all the Ollphéist they're probably the best companion you can have. They aren't as vicious as the Titans or the Werewolves, but they're more loyal than the Werecats.

Kitsune are fast and sly creatures with just as much power behind them as a Werewolf. They're also humanoid—no they practically _are_ human, save for their ability to change into nine-tailed demon foxes. They look human, they have human life spans… they _are_ human, even if no one else thinks so. Why should physical appearance matter if everyone's heart beats in the same way?

Igneel shakes his head slowly, banishing the thoughts to the back of his mind. He can think about it later, when he's home and he knows Natsu and everyone else are safe. Besides, what does it matter if Zoldeo is swearing about an Ollphéist? It probably bit at him or something like that, it could be how he got his scars. It probably isn't important.

Probably… Igneel isn't really sure.

"Oi, Flamehead, you listening?" Igneel shoots Zoldeo a dark look at the hair jab, as if he doesn't hate his hair enough. If Igneel had feathers they would be ruffled…

"Yes," Igneel grumbles. "I'm listening." Actually he wasn't, he has no clue what Zoldeo just said. Not that Zoldeo needs to know that.

Zoldeo only sighs and continues walking. Igneel never even realized they had stopped. "As I was saying, Mr. Dragneel." Apparently Zoldeo knows. "There are several types of humanoid Ollphéist." Igneel already knows this, but he doesn't really want to make Zoldeo any angrier. "Werewolves, Werecats, Skinwalkers…"

Igneel stops listening at this point. Skinwalkers are absolutely disgusting. Unlike the Were-creatures which transform naturally, Skinwalkers, well… they shed their skin. In their normal form they look like people, but they can change into any other creature imaginable by ripping themselves out of their skin, revealing their intended shape underneath. It's an incredibly messy process, and the shed skin and blood is enough to make anyone feel sick.

So, no. No Skinwalkers. Grandine would be mad about the blood on the carpet and Wendy, who is only nine, would probably have nightmares. The nightmares would make Grandine even more mad and, once again, angry women means death. Okay, Grandine isn't that bad, but her temper can rival that of a dragon's.

"—Kitsune, and—"

Igneel drowns the voice out again. The malice coating the word "Kitsune" is less noticeable this time, but it _is_ still there and Igneel just can't quite understand why it's bothering him so much. Is it because of the way he feels towards the Ollphéist? Igneel does hate it when people insult them or when a member of the Legion Corps threatens to exterminate them, but this feels… different. Not necessarily more personal, but… something just doesn't feel _right_, like something incredibly bad is about to happen, just not to him.

He narrows his eyes as possibilities flood through his mind, but he pushes all of them away and glances down at Natsu. Igneel is almost startled when his gaze dips down and he realizes he isn't the only one who caught the dark note in Zoldeo's voice. The younger male is looking up at him, something akin to worry in his eyes.

That isn't good. When Natsu gets worried—_like really worried_—he gets destructive and violent. Granted, most of the times Natsu gets worried someone is being hurt or threatened. Or both.

"Both" seems highly probable right now.

Igneel just smiles at him and shakes his head slowly, trying to reassure Natsu that everything will be fine. Because everything _will_ be fine. Everything has to be fine, nothing can go wrong today otherwise Grandine will kill him and then Natsu and Wendy will be fatherless, unless of course that bastard Zirconis makes a move on his wife and—

A shrill scream echoes through the hallway they're walking in and Igneel completely freezes. It sounds like… a little girl?

Before Igneel can really mull over the possibilities of _who_ is screaming and _why_ said person is screaming another bloodcurdling shriek tears through the air. The sound is coming from nearby, less than twenty yards, and it's so heart breaking that Igneel bursts into action once again.

Igneel silently thanks whatever higher being may or may not be up there for his better than average hearing ability. The screams are coming from down the hall and it doesn't take Igneel long to find the source of the cries. He runs toward a door at the end of the hallway, vaguely hearing Natsu and Zoldeo chasing after him.

Igneel's hand wraps itself around the doorknob, but it won't budge at all. He swears under his breath as he realizes the door is locked, and the screams are just getting worse.

"Wait," Zoldeo shouts as Igneel slams his body against the door, forcefully trying to push it open. "You can't go in there!" Zoldeo reaches out to grab the fuming redhead, but Igneel just snarls and crashes into the door again.

"Like hell I can't," he barks. "Someone's hurt." Igneel's shoulder smashes against the door again, which he briefly notices is made of pure iron, small _Elder Futhark_ runes running along the edges of the door, which he finds to be slightly strange. Why would they need to use powerful runes on this door? Are they trying to keep something out?

Or are they trying to keep something in?

Neither option sounds very appealing, so Igneel just ignores the runes as another scream comes from the other side of the door. Before Zoldeo can stop him Igneel reels back and lifts his right leg into the air, then proceeding to launch his foot forward, kicking the door right next to the silvery knob.

The door springs open and slams against the wall with a crack, but Igneel hardly notices it. All he can see is what's in the middle of the room.

It's a little girl, no older than Natsu, possibly even younger. Her blonde hair is a complete mess, streaked with a reddish color in some places with what he can only assume is blood. Her shirt is several sizes too big and he can't tell if she's wearing anything under it, it's also nearly torn to shreds. Blood and dark bruises are covering most of her body, some fresh, others fading. One of her legs is tucked up against her chest, the other lying straight out in front of her, and he can't help but notice the drying blood on the inside of her thigh.

What bothers Igneel the most though is the way she's looking up at the man in front of her as if he's a monster.

"What the hell do you think you're doing to this little girl," Igneel screams at the man currently leering at the cowering girl. He notices too late the black, knotted symbol on the girl's shoulder.

"Girl?" Zoldeo laughs from behind him, stepping into the room as well. "It's only an Ollphéist," he sneers, smirking to himself.

Igneel snarls and whirls around, slamming the dark haired man into the wall beside them. It doesn't matter that the girl is an Ollphéist, what matters is that it's only a little girl and she's hurt, badly.

His lips pull back over his sharp teeth. "And that makes it okay," he all but screams. "Are you torturing her because you enjoy it?" he asks harshly, his hand moving up to wrap around Zoldeo's throat. If Zoldeo's answer is "yes" than Igneel would have no issue with killing this man, none at all.

"N-no," Zoldeo chokes out, wheezing for air. The man who had already been in the room had seemingly disappeared, Igneel notes, and Natsu is crouching a few feet in front on the shaking girl, reaching out to her. Igneel turns back to Zoldeo, glaring. "She's a Kitsune!"

"So what?" Igneel snaps back, watching more and more fear enter the smaller man's eyes. "Do you do this to all of them?" He punctuates his statement by pulling Zoldeo away from the wall, then slamming him back against it with as much force as he can muster

"No, no!" Zoldeo cries out, wincing in pain. "It wouldn't make a contract with me." Igneel growls lowly at the word "it" making Zoldeo flinch. "A-and she was too strong for me to force one."

Igneel's grip loosens slightly in shock. "So you thought…" he can't bring himself to finish, but Zoldeo nods none the less.

"I thought that maybe if I… hurt her then she would agree to the contract, b-but I had a good reason," he shouted as Igneel's grip tightened again. "I have until the end of the week to either sell her or make a contract with her, otherwise she goes to Zero." At this Igneel is the one to flinch back. "You know what he would do to her!"

Oh yes, Igneel knows exactly what Zero would do to this poor girl if he got his hands on her. He would rip her to pieces from the inside out even if she agreed to a contract, then he would beat her and let anyone else hurt her so long as he got paid for it. That's what Zero would do to her.

Igneel looks down and swallows thickly, before glancing over at Natsu and the girl. She's still shaking, probably in shock snapping, and Natsu seems to be murmuring something to her, but Igneel can't tell if she can hear him. His eyes snap back up to look at Zoldeo, who's shocked to see the resolve shinning in Igneel's eyes. "How much?" Igneel whispers.

"What?" Zoldeo sputters, completely baffled.

"I said 'how much'," he repeats. "You said you have until the end of the week to sell her to someone else or make a contract yourself." This way Igneel could get the girl out of this place, give her a good home, and if she really doesn't want to make a contract with Natsu than she could have her freedom.

Zoldeo mumbles a price to him and Igneel nods without really listening, he's more concerned with what Natsu is doing.

The young, pink haired male is on his knees in front of the blonde, who still looks terrified, but there's something like hope in her eyes as she looks at Natsu.

Her hands are laid out flat on the ground and she lets out a shuddery breath. "Are you going to hurt me too?" she asks softly, but there is a hint of tiredness as well.

Natsu shakes his head slowly and reaches for her right hand with his left. His large hand easily engulfs her smaller one as he threads his fingers through hers, linking their hands together. Natsu smiles at her and Igneel is nearly taken aback by how gentle the look is, he has never seen an expression like that on his son's face. Natsu shakes his head again. "Never," he whispers.

**{It finally begins.}**

**AN: New story! Now I'm really tired… I hope you guys liked this, and please leave a review. It would really make my day if you guys reviewed. I don't know when the next chapter will be, but we'll see guys.**

**Does anyone know the song at the beginning and end?**

**-Riven**


	2. Monday Mornings

**AN: The last chapter of this was my very first time writing in present tense. How did I do? I thought it went rather well myself, but that might just be me. Only the first chapter is going to be in third person, the rest is going to be from mostly Natsu's P.O.V. (And maybe Lucy's if I feel like experimenting, or her P.O.V. is necessary).**

**All reviews (sans guest reviews since I can't reply to those, sorry) are rewarded with a sneak peek of the next chapter. This goes for all of my on going works.**

**Ollphéist Álainn**

**Chapter One: Monday Mornings**

**{Hold on, what's the rush, what's the rush?}**

**December 3, X784**

If there's one thing I hate more than anything else in the universe, it's definitely Monday mornings.

Now, I don't have anything personal against Mondays in general, not really anyway. My younger sister, Wendy, was born on a Monday night and I think my parents were married on a Monday, but I really don't like Monday mornings. Who likes Monday mornings anyway? No one. Absolutely no one likes Mondays, if you say you do you're a liar.

Really though, you have to wake up early and go to school after two days of being able to sleep in and not do anything. It sucks. It really, really sucks. No one likes waking up that early and no one likes going to school.

Then again, I really like waking up next to Lucy every morning, especially on Mondays.

I feel my face contort itself into a grimace. Okay, that sounded pretty bad, even to me. I wouldn't be surprised if someone were to take that the wrong way. I'm not like that though and neither is Lucy, she would never let anyone get away with something like that, not after what Zoldeo did to her.

A growl tears itself out of my throat. If I ever see Zoldeo again I will kill him. I know that holding a grudge against him for what he did is stupid, Lucy is okay now, she's _safe_, but I can't forgive him for hurting her. I can't forgive anyone for hurting her.

Not after everything she went through in Crocus, Fiore's capital city and quite possibly the most dangerous place in Fiore. On the outside Crocus appears to be perfect, but I know better. I know about underground world there, I've been there, and it's not pretty. Plus the Zentopia Legion Corps are stationed there, so it isn't safe for any Ollphéist. If I hadn't have met Lucy I never would've known just how bad the dark side of the capital really is.

Not that it matters of course, Crocus is a long way away, and I don't plan on going there with Lucy any time soon. And If I did bring her to Crocus I wouldn't let anyone do anything to hurt her.

Not that Lucy can't protect herself, she is an Ollphéist after all, and a strong one at that. I've seen her take down daemons twice her size without a second of hesitation. That list itself includes Wyverns and Vulcans, which are nothing to sneeze at, but when compared to the semi intelligent Vulcan or clumsy Dragon imposter, Lucy's speed and agility become even more apparent. It's amazing to watch her fight, although I don't like it when she gets hurt.

I never expected her to be so strong. When I first saw her she was only a little girl, curled in on herself and afraid of everyone around her. She had been hurt badly and she just looked so small compared to me and everyone else in the room. She proved me wrong though, just like she always does.

She's still impossibly tiny compared to me though, I'm always afraid that I might crush her on accident while the two of us are asleep. Yes, we share a bed, which some might find strange. Actually it's really strange to anyone who doesn't know us well. Lucy does have her own room, but for the first few nights that she stayed with us she had been too terrified to sleep. My simple solution to the problem had been to just lay down next to her and hold her, let her know that nothing could happen to her while I was there.

Well, it stuck. Nearly three and a half years later and we're still as twisted up as a pretzel. Not that I mind. It's nice to wake up and know that she's there next to me, to know that she's okay.

Lucy always makes it a habit to fall asleep as a small black fox, but every morning it's a very _human_ Lucy lying next to me. Luckily she's somehow wearing clothes when she changes form, otherwise we would have a lot of problems. My mother would kill me.

I'm not really sure if Lucy changing in her sleep is something normal that happens, or if she does it on purpose. Personally I think it's just an accident. Lucy, in her natural human form, has a strong affliction of being touched by most people, especially one's she doesn't know. As a fox she's fine, people can cuddle her all of the time, but as a person she shies away from most contact. She's completely fine with me and the rest of the family hugging her—especially Wendy, she loves Wendy—or just holding her in general, but not many others.

She's perfectly okay with most of the friends I've introduced her to, especially the girls Erza, Levy, Mira, Lisanna, and Juvia. It's the guys she's timid around sometimes. She's mostly fine with Gray and Gajeel because they're two of my best friends and they're always around—although I think Gray's stripping habit sort of freaks her out—so she doesn't mind hugs from either of them as long as they don't surprise her with one. Romeo is thirteen, so he doesn't scare her at all, but Laxus and Elfman intimidate her. Laxus because he's, well… he's Laxus, and Elfman because he's a giant and he's so loud.

She really likes Jellal—and he has a large soft spot for her too, but we don't talk about that—but I think that's because he's really quiet, or that he's an Ollphéist too, except no one else knows it. The mark that brands him as an Ollphéist is on his face, but he tells everyone it's a tattoo. Lucy knew better of course, right when she first saw him she knew that he's an Ollphéist, but she hasn't told anyone other than me.

Anyway, so yeah, Lucy really doesn't like most people touching her. Since I can't read Lucy's mind I can only assume it's because she was hurt by Zoldeo and his men while she was human. That or she feels more vulnerable as a human. Either way it's really not my business. If Lucy doesn't want other people to touch her, than that's fine, so long as she isn't afraid of me. It would be horrible if my best friend was afraid of me.

Ugh, too much thinking, it's still too early. Not to mention the fact that there's school today.

I sigh through my nose, dragging Lucy's still sleeping body closer to my own. I shift slightly in place, moving so I'm almost completely curled around Lucy, with my left arm slung over her waist and one of my legs wrapped around both of hers, my right arm already being underneath her head. She grumbles slightly in protest to the movement, but tucks her face into the space between my shoulder and chest just as quickly.

It's kind of funny, if anyone were to walk into the room right now they would probably never even see Lucy due to the fact that I'm twisted so that I'm almost on top of her.

I know that I won't crush her though. Lucy and I have slept like this so many times already that it's nearly impossible for me to accidentally hurt her. I mean, after over three years of sharing a bed your subconscious sort of learns where not to roll and who not to squish. I'm sure it would be the same way if I was sharing my bed with another girl.

Not that I've been sleeping with anyone other than Lucy.

Okay, that isn't what I—oh forget it. I just can't win can I? No, no of course I can't, because ultimately the universe hates me and there is nothing I can do about that. Woe is me and all that B.S.

Well, that definitely sounded pitiful, I really need to—as my dad would say—man up. I need to man up. Maybe, only a little. Just kidding, I am incredibly manly. Anyway what was I saying?

Right, Mondays. Mondays suck, but they suck slightly less now that Lucy's around.

As if she's responding to my thoughts, the little blonde next to me starts to shift in place. Her lips skimming across my bare collarbone so lightly that I can barely even feel it and I know that she's awake. "Good morning," I mumble huskily, sleep still coating my voice. I tilt my head down and kiss the top of her head gently.

"Morning," Lucy whispers back, nuzzling into my bare chest, tickling me slightly. "I don't want to get up," she tells me, sounding strangely hoarse. I glance down at her and notice that her eyes are tinged red, which makes me realize that she must have been crying.

My brow furrows and my lips press together in a harsh line. She must have had another nightmare. I hate when she has nightmares, it makes me feel useless. I can protect her from others, but I can't save her from the voices in her head.

"I know, Baby Girl," I murmur back, arms tightening around her. "But we've got school today." She nods against me and starts to pull away, but my grip tightens quickly. "Do you want to talk about it?" I ask her softly.

She shakes her head. "No, I'm okay now," she reassures. "I promise." She moves to pull away from me and this time I let her. "I'm going to go take a shower," she tells me, walking towards my bedroom door. "Do you think you can be up by the time I'm done?" she jokes, shooting me a heart stopping grin over her shoulder that makes me think that in a previous life I must have been in love with this girl.

"Maybe," I reply a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth. Lucy shakes her head and laughs lightly before saying something about me getting dressed for school and ducking out the door.

Eww, school. Actually our school isn't that bad. Magnolia High School is different, in a good way. It's run by Makarov Dreyar, a former Ollphéist master turned tavern owner turned principal and tavern owner, although no one knows how that happened exactly. The reason the school is so different is that Ollphéist don't have to hide themselves there, and it's truly amazing. It's one of the only schools in the area that allows them to attend and get an education without them being looked down on. The people there don't treat them like dirt or monsters, just people.

Even Ollphéist without Masters, like Jellal—though no one knows the truth about Jellal except for Lucy and me—, are accepted. Of course some people don't agree with the system, but they generally don't speak out against it because Makarov would be on their case in a heartbeat. He hates it when people talk bad about the Ollphéist.

Lucy loves it.

I groan slightly at the thought and press the palms of my hands against my eyes.

Lucy spends most of the school day as a tiny fox sleeping on my lap and somehow she still manages to have better grades than I do. How is that even possible? I don't even want to think bout it, she's too smart for her own good, though she does manage to keep me out of trouble eighty-three percent of the time—which is better than Erza does.

Things have changed in the past decade. Ollphéist aren't exactly illegal, but they're still looked down on in some places. It's confusing for the most part. They're seen as scum by about half the population, and the other half just doesn't care about them.

But there are a select few people who do care about them, like Makarov Dreyar and Warrod Sequen, the man in charge of B.I.R.D. the "Bureau of Identification, Restoration, and Defense" which takes a census on currently known Ollphéist and is also trying to rehabilitate them back into society, giving them a life outside of a cage.

Some of the smaller, more harmless Ollphéist are kept as pets by people. The Titan Class on the other hand are placed into the Veronica fighting rings, where people would place bets on who they think would win in a fight. Humanoids like Lucy are able to blend in almost flawlessly.

One's like Jellal that are able to keep their identity a secret from the public can attend school in several towns and cities and some are even able to find jobs, though most don't. It's all part of a new program going on thanks to B.I.R.D.

Ollphéist are being rehabilitated into the public since their so common, the only problem is that the Ollphéist know it, but the humans don't. Those without a master that aren't able to hide the fact that they're an Ollphéist roam the streets in gangs, unable to find a job. The lower level Lycans for example, they travel in packs and pick off anything they can use for a meal, which is why people stay off the streets at night. They kill humans, but I can't exactly blame them for it after everything that's happened in life.

Before I met Lucy I never knew that Ollphéist lived among people without anyone noticing. It must be difficult, especially with the Legion Corps. They "take care" of any Ollphéist thought to be too powerful without a master, some with masters, claiming that they're doing God's work by destroying the beasts. They murder them and get away with it. The church blames them for anything that goes wrong, and wipes them out when no one tries to stop them.

Luckily they can't go after any Ollphéist that enter the rings. Mostly because they'll probably die anyway, but also because people would notice if a big competitor just disappeared one day.

_"Lucy?" I ask. "What exactly is that on your arm?"_

I close my eyes, a small smile slipping over my face. I had asked Lucy that about a month after we brought her home. I had noticed that every Ollphéist has an intricate design somewhere on their body that tells the world what they are. It's basically a tattoo, a birthmark really, but it had come to my attention that maybe the symbols had names. My father had mentioned Elder Futhark runes to me several times, but I didn't actually find out what they were until Lucy and I started high school.

That told me about the old Enca knots and what they symbolized. Apparently Enca is the homeland of all Ollphéist, but it was destroyed years ago during the war.

Lucy told me that her mark is called a shield knot and that _"I'm going to protect you. Always. I'm your shield."_. I don't need a shield though. I only need her.

I'm too wrapped up in my thoughts to notice how quiet the house is. It's never this quiet in the morning. The next thing I know there's a small body landing on my chest and the air is rushing out of my lungs as the object of my affections decides it would be a great idea to jump on me.

"Geez, Lucy," I groan and look up at the blonde currently straddling my hips. "You could have warned me," I grumble. That actually hurt. Lucy is a hell of a lot stronger than she looks and even though she doesn't weigh that much it still felt like a sucker punch to the solar plexus. Ouch.

"Get up," she hisses at me. Wow, what did I do to make her so angry. All I've done so far this morning is cuddle with her and—oh. "If you don't get up now we'll be late."

"Calm down, Lucy," I laugh. "It's still early, Wendy isn't even awake yet." She has that look it her eyes that makes me think she's going to hit me so I raise my arms in defense. "Why are you so violent?"

"It's not Wendy I'm worried about," she growls. Is it bad that I kind of like that sound? "It's you."

"Me?" I ask. "I don't take that long to get ready," I argue. I'm a man, it doesn't take me an hour to get ready in the morning, that's more of a girl thing. I'm not being sexist either, it's just the truth.

"Umm, yes you do," she disagrees. "You spend about twenty minutes complaining about how early it is and how you don't want to get up, then when you do get you spend another twenty minutes sulking about having to put on your uniform, and let's not forget how after that you run around like a maniac for ten minutes when you realize that school starts in fifteen and all you've managed to do is take off your shirt."

I can't help it. I start to laugh which only makes her madder. I sit up and she slides down onto my lap. "Okay, okay," I chuckle. "I'll get up, just give me a few minutes. We have about an hour and a half." She huffs at me, but doesn't say anything, just rolls her eyes. I can see the smile though so she's not fooling me.

I throw one of my arms around her hips lazily and look at her. She's already in our school uniform, the girls version of course. White button up shirt, red tie, black skirt, and thigh high black socks.

The guys uniform if exactly the same. You know, except for the skirt and socks. Well, there's probably at lest one guy that wears the socks, but I try not to think about that.

"Hey, Lucy?" I murmur, one hand automatically going to her right thigh to play with the top of her sock. She stiffens briefly, but relaxes just as quickly. It isn't fast enough for it to go unnoticed though.

"What, Natsu?"

"Can you explain contracts to me. I mean, we've talked about it before, but what does it all mean?" I know the basics, how we are connected now, but I'm not sure how it all works.

"Didn't we just talk about this in class? Never mind, you weren't paying attention." I smile at her cheekily and she laughs. "Okay, well. You know that there are two types of contracts, right?"

"Yeah, a willing and unwilling," I answer. "With an unwilling contract a person's power of will is stronger than that of the Ollphéist, giving them complete control over their body and mind."

"Pretty much," she agrees, "but it runs deeper than that." Her eyes meet mine and she smiles. "It's our souls, Natsu. When a contract is signed willing an Ollphéist binds their soul to their master."

"And what does that mean?" I ask, completely baffled.

"It means you hold a piece of me in your hands, but you don't control me with it," she clarifies. "It's a two way deal, like this says." She points to the shield knot on her right shoulder. "I protect you as long as you protect me."

I hum in agreement and pull her into a hug. "And you know that I'll always protect you, right?" She nods against my chest before sitting back.

"Of course." Something comes to my mind and I say it out loud before I an stop myself.

"You're nightmares," I start, stuttering slightly and slurring my words. My tongue feels too heavy in my mouth and I suddenly think that maybe I should be asking her this, but it's too late to stop now that I have her full attention. "They're about what Zoldeo did to you, aren't they?" I ask, looking up at her sadly. I've been thinking about this for awhile now, but I never had it in me to actually say anything.

Her eyes widen in horror and she starts to pull away from me, but I quickly lock my arms around her middle, preventing her from moving too far away from me. She refuses to meet my eyes and I immediately feel horrible for asking. "Why would you think that?" she murmurs, voice quivering with what I think is fear.

"I can't think of anything else that would give you nightmares," I tell her truthfully. Most of the time Lucy is this bright, playful ball of sunshine that just lights up the entire world—well, my world. She isn't afraid of anything except for large amounts of blood and she cares about everyone around her more than she cares about herself. "Plus they only started after you started living here," I note.

She stiffens and nearly hisses at me. "Did you ever stop to think that maybe they started before I met you? Before Zoldeo found me?" she spits out, eyes locking with mine in a furious glare. She looks like she's about to start crying and I flinch back. No, I hadn't thought of that. It never crossed my mind that her nightmares weren't about Zoldeo and his men. I had just thought that—I don't really know what I thought. I just knew that he was awful and a monster.

Something about her eyes makes me stop. Lucy is a good liar—a great one actually, but I've known her for too long not to realize when she isn't telling the truth. She isn't really mad at me, she's just trying to keep me from the truth. And it's working.

"Did they?" I challenge softly, removing one hand from her waist and trailing it up her side. I stop when my fingers brush the side of her neck, my thumb sweeping over her jaw line soothingly. "Did they start before you met him?" I whisper, almost pleading with her to answer.

She leans into my hand and shakes her head softly. "No," she chokes out. "No, they didn't." She breathes out shakily. "I—" she starts to say something but just shakes her head again instead.

"You know that you can tell me, right?" I pull her closer to me, still speaking gently. "What they did to you. You can tell me," I repeat. "I won't judge you."

"I know," she says, and that's it. She doesn't say anything else.

My hand curls into a fist against her back and white hot rage floods through me. I'm not mad at her, just the entire situation. It's been over three years, but what he did is still hurting her, even if it is subconsciously. If I ever see him again. My fist tightens even more if that's possible.

"Then why won't you tell me," I bark at her, letting the anger out. I immediately feel bad for snapping at her like this as she cringes, recoiling away from me. If she doesn't want to talk about it then I have no right to ask, but I couldn't stop my mouth fast enough. "Dammit, Lucy, I can't help you if you don't let me in," I lower my voice at the end, my near shout ending up barely audible. "I just want to help you, I don't want them to be able to hurt you anymore."

She pulls back, but this time I let her. I feel terrible. Both for snapping at her and for prying into things she obviously doesn't want to talk about. I can't really blame her though. If I had been tortured by a group of men who kept calling me a monster I wouldn't want to talk about it either.

Lucy surprises me as she leans forward again and wraps her arms around me neck, dragging herself close to me. The palm of my once clenched fist flattens against the small of her back and she curls around me. "It's okay," she whispers against my ear, kissing my cheek softly. "I would tell you," she offers gently, "but believe me, Natsu, you don't want to hear it."

Something wet slides down my neck and I believe her. My feelings don't matter here though. "You can tell me, Lucy," I coax, nuzzling my nose against her neck. "If helping you means that I have to hear something that I don't want to hear then tell me," I urge her. "You're more important than that."

"Okay," she concedes. She heaves a sigh and rests her full weight against me, as if she's too tired to try anymore, and maybe she is. I don't blame her.

I rub my hand up and down her back slowly, silently encouraging her to continue. I don't say anything though. At this rate we'll be late for school, but I don't care. If her telling me about her nightmares and fears makes her feel better than I wouldn't mind another detention.

"Them beating on me was probably the nicest thing they ever did to me," she admits as she rests her head on top of mine. "Do you remember the day we met?" She laughs after saying it, but it sounds strained and forced. "Of course you do. All of the blood." She stops and threads her fingers through my hair. "All of that blood was mine. Months worth of blood." Her voice is getting so shaky that I almost wish she would change her mind and stop, because obviously this is hurting her. "They—I. They call us monsters," she whispers, "but what they did was the worst thing someone can do."

I immediately understand what she means, but I wish I didn't. It makes sense though. The reason she's so afraid of the guys at times. Why she sometimes flinches when I touch her leg. "Lucy, did they…?" I leave the question hanging in the air.

She nods once. "Yes."

Did I mention that I hate Monday Mornings?

**{Hold on, I'll be here when it's all done, you know.}**

**AN: And done! I was about half way done with this when I realized that I have no real plot for this fic. Well, now I sort of have one, kind of. It's a work in progress. I have more of a back story to why everything is the way it is that anything else. Any suggestions would be awesome!**

**As stated at the beginning, anyone who reviews gets a special sneak peek at the next chapter (whenever I get around to writing that).**

**Give me a break though guys. I'm trying to write this, The Raven, Ocean of Fire, A Kingdom Hearts fanfic called Dirty Paws (title subject to change) that hasn't been posted yet, a one-shot called Battleships, a plane hijacking fic called Flight 83, and possibly an M rated fic called Tick Tick Tick. **

**Summer is coming though, so yay!**

**Any questions? Ask away!**

**-Riven**


	3. The Bird and the Worm

**AN: Sorry for the longish wait. I had trouble figuring out where this story was going to go. I'm pretty much winging this story. It has no plot right now. **

**Ollphéist Álainn**

**Chapter Two: The Bird and the Worm**

**{You're the bird, I'm the worm and it's plain to see.}**

I can't believe it. No, it's more then that. I _won't_ believe it. How could anyone do that to Lucy—to anyone? How could someone not stop and think that what they were doing was wrong? How could you not think that it's wrong?

Ollphéist are called monsters for what they are. They're scorned and tortured and hated because they aren't like everybody else. Yet people, regular people, can murder and rape and apparently that's okay, because they're _only human_. They don't know any better.

They aren't _monsters_ after all.

Sometimes I wonder why people think that they're so much better than the Ollphéist. In almost every way, an Ollphéist is superior to a regular person. They're smarter, stronger, magical—and yet people still find them to be nothing but scum. It doesn't make sense, not that anything seems to make sense in this world.

It's like my dad said. There are a thousand shades of gray in the world, and black and white are only a myth. It's not a matter of good and evil in the world, it's about who is better—who is less evil, or more good.

Sure, Ollphéist have killed people, and some of them have been good people, but we've killed them too. We've killed more of them, slaughtered them for sick games and twisted fights. It's horrible, what we've done, yet people seem to forget that fact. That we made them out to be these murderous beasts, when we can't even see the real monsters standing right in front of us.

How could someone hurt Lucy like that? All she's ever tried to do is help people, protect them from the Ollphéist that want them dead. She's never done anything to hurt people, yet they've hurt her so much. I can't understand why she would want to have anything to do with me after everything that's happened to her. How can she look at me with so much trust in her eyes? How can she sleep next to me every night after going through something like that? How can she let me hold her like I do?

The answer hits me hard. It's because she _is_ Lucy. She knows that there are bad people in the world, but she also knows that there are good people too. Dad and I, we got her out of Crocus—we pulled her out of hell, that's why she trusts us. We saved her from the arena and the fights, we gave her a life and a home. That's why she trusts us, we've gained her trust by being who we are, and we trust her too.

It takes me all of two seconds to realize how incredibly furious I am. Not at Lucy, never at Lucy. I'm mad at Zoldeo and all of his friends, all of the people like him. I've never hated someone before, maybe I still don't, but what I feel for him is as close to hatred as I can get. What he's done to Lucy is unforgivable in more ways than one. It's horrible and cruel—and _she is not the monster_, _he is_.

He raped her. He hurt her like that, ripped her part from the inside out, and he didn't care. She didn't mean a thing to him, she was just another body, and that—that is unforgivable. Yes, Lucy is an Ollphéist, but that doesn't make what he did right, it doesn't make anything he did to her right.

I almost laugh, Lucy was right. I _didn't_ want to hear that, but maybe I needed to. It makes me understand her more. Lucy is like a huge puzzle, and the more I learn about her past, the more pieces fit. I don't even know half of Lucy's story yet. It's just a blank canvas sitting in front of me, but colors are starting to appear slowly. And that's okay, Lucy can take all the time she needs to tell me about her past. I'm in no rush to pressure her into telling me things, at least, not after what she just told me. I shouldn't have pushed her in the first place. She didn't want to tell me, but I made her, and I shouldn't have done that. I had no right to.

I sigh heavily and feel Lucy tense up against me. It takes me a second to realize that she's shaking horribly, like she's freezing, but I know that she isn't cold. No, she's _scared_. I don't know if she's afraid because of what she just told me—dreams can be terrifying, but a memory is even worse—or if she's afraid of how I'm going to react to what she said.

My heart skips a beat at that. I don't want her to be afraid of me, that's my biggest fear. Lucy means everything to me—well, not exactly everything, but she means so much to me that if she was hurt, or she died, or just disappeared, I wouldn't know what to do with myself. She would just be gone, and what would I do then? She's my best friend, sure, but she means so much more than that, she means so much to me that it hurts to think about not having her around. I can't have her be afraid of me, because if she was afraid of me she would leave, and I wouldn't know what to do if she did.

It takes me a half second too long to realize how quiet I've been, and for how long I've been silent. Lucy probably thinks that I'm angry—which I am, but not at her—and she probably thinks that I don't want to talk to her, which I do, I really do. I want to say something to make her feel better, or tell her that things are okay now, but I can't, because I _don't_ know what to say. She doesn't know that though, so I have to _try_.

Lucy matters to me, so even though I'm not good with words, even though I have no clue what to say to make everything okay again, I still have to try, because she matters to me, and I would never forgive myself if I didn't try for her. After everything that has happened to her, she deserves to have someone try to help her—fight for her.

I can be that person, but first I have to actually open my mouth and say something. I take a deep breath and reach for her hand. She flinches, but she doesn't pull away from me, so I suppose that's a good thing. "Lucy," I start softly, looking up to meet her eyes. She isn't looking at me though, and I get the horrible feeling that I've waited too long to say something. "I—"

"Natsu, Lucy," someone calls outside my bedroom. I wince, partly because already knowing who it is, and partly because they have the worst timing imaginable. The door slams open and Wendy bursts into the room, tripping on something on the ground and falling flat on her face. If it was any other morning I would have laughed, but right now I just don't have it in me to find anything funny. Wendy pushes herself up onto her hands and knees and points an accusing finger at me. "We're going to be late," she shouts at me. Wendy rarely yells at anyone—except for me of course, but that's only because I'm the reason we're always late for school—she's actually really soft spoken and shy most of the time, but that's okay because she's only twelve.

Wendy stands up and starts lecturing me on making everyone late, but I'm not listening. I can't take my eyes off of Lucy and she still won't look at me. This doesn't sit well with me, I'm too use to Lucy's eyes being the most expressive part of her and I don't like not being able to see what she's feeling.

I must have spoken too soon, because as soon as I finished my thought Lucy turned to look at me. I don't like what I see in her eyes. Hurt. Sadness. Disappointment. Fear. _Betrayal_. I don't know which one's are directed at me, but it doesn't matter. Each one hurts just as much as the last and I feel my heart sink down to my stomach.

I waited too long to say something.

Her gaze rips away from mine and it feels like a physical blow, but I'm not the one who's been hurt, that's Lucy, and it's my fault, which makes it so much worse. "Lucy," I murmur, squeezing her hand in mine.

She seems to realize that her hand is still in mine, because in the next second she pulls it away and stands out of my reach, practically leaping away from me, as if I'm on fire. "I should let you get ready," she says softly, eyes never leaving the floor.

"Lucy wait," I try again, "I'm sorry, I—"

"I'll be outside," she cuts me off, already walking over to the door. I can only watch as she slips through my fingers and out the door. "Wendy and I will be waiting for you." She already waited for me though, and I failed her.

Lucy hesitates for a moment before bolting out of the room, and Wendy sends me a curious look, silently asking me why Lucy is acting so strange. I just sigh and shake my head, wincing slightly. Wendy doesn't say anything, she just sends me a look that screams _"fix it!"_ and follows Lucy outside, leaving me alone in my room so that I can sulk by myself.

I hate Mondays.

It takes me a minute to find my uniform—it was under my bed and I have no idea how it got there, Lucy always says that it's the brownies playing a trick on me, but I have no idea what that means. How can brownies play tricks on people?—but I slip it on as quickly as I can. I'm just about to leave when something starts talking to me, scaring me half to death.

"You're stupid, Natsu," a light voice hisses at me. I turn around slowly, glaring at the odd blue cat sleeping on the chair in my room. "All you needed to do was say something, and you completely blew it," the cat deadpans.

"Gee, thanks, Happy, I didn't already know that," I spit back at the cat. Well, Happy really isn't a cat. He's an Exceed. Exceeds are like the bridge between Ollphéist and people. Lucy once told me that an Exceed wasn't really an Ollphéist, because they were really just cats that could talk and sprout wings when they wanted to, but they weren't regular animals either.

People don't seem to hold the same hatred for Exceeds as they do Ollphéist though, probably because they're practically just talking cats. If anything they're slightly like Werecats, but Werecats can take the form of a person, just like Lucy can, Exceeds can't. No one really knows where the Exceeds came from, or why they're here, but they are, and people seem to like them, so it's not really a problem.

I found Happy a few months after Lucy started living with us. At first I thought he was just a really strange colored kitten, but when I brought him home, Lucy started talking to him. I didn't think it was strange until Happy started talking back. That freaked me out for a second, I thought I had gone crazy.

It didn't take long for Happy, and later Carla, Wendy's Exceed friend and the love of Happy's life, to join the family. In fact Happy is one of my best friends, but he has a habit of taking Lucy's side whenever we get into a fight. Are we even having a fight? I actually have no idea.

"Just apologize," the little cat murmurs, curling up on his side. He opens one dark eye so that he can look at me. "She isn't mad, just afraid that you won't look at her the same way anymore." I know that he's right. All I have to do is reassure Lucy that nothing has changed.

I turn to leave the room, but stop at the door. "Happy, did you hide my clothes under the bed?" I ask quietly.

He snorts. "No. It was the Brownies," is all he says before falling back asleep and leaving me confused. I just shake my head and leave the room, remembering to leave the door open so that Happy can get out later. I know that if I try to ask Happy what a Brownie is, he'll just ignore me. Happy does that sometimes. If he doesn't explain something right away, he won't explain if you ask either.

That's one of the reasons that I think the Exceeds are somehow related to the Werecats. Both will only tell you half of what you want to know, and then leave the rest for you to figure out on your own. They're riddlers. I don't like riddles. They're confusing and sometimes bad things happen when you can't figure them out. I don't like that, which is probably why I'm not very fond of the Werecats, Happy's cool though. He's my buddy and I know he wouldn't keep something life threatening hidden from me. He isn't like that.

The front door of the house shuts behind me with a soft clicking sound and, just like Lucy said, both she and Wendy are sitting on the front steps outside. Wendy, who is wearing a similar uniform to Lucy a I—they're both lucky that it doesn't get very cold in Magnolia, otherwise they'd be freezing, what with them only wearing skirts and all—is talking animatedly about the different Ollphéist she had learned about in school. Lucy is sitting next to her, smiling softly and nodding at what Wendy is saying, sometimes adding little tidbits of her own information and opinion.

Sometimes it amazes me that Wendy is going to be making a contract with her own Ollphéist in a little less than a year. She just turned thirteen in late September, so she still doesn't seem old enough to be making a contract, not yet anyway. I suppose I was still pretty young when I made my contract with Lucy, so I really shouldn't be one to judge. Plus, knowing Wendy, she'll get something safe. No Lycans or Kitsunes, probably something small and furry.

I wince slightly. Hopefully it's not a Werecat. I would probably cry if she came home with a Werecat.

"Natsu!" Suddenly arms are thrown around my stomach and someone starts laughing. I look down and see Wendy smiling up at me brightly, but I know that she wasn't the one that laughed. I can recognize Lucy's laugh anywhere. "Are you ready to go?"

I smile at Wendy and ruffle her hair—to which she cries out indignantly and swats at my offending limb. "Yeah, Wendy, let's go." I meet Lucy's eyes for a moment, but she turns away from me just as quickly.

The next time my dad calls me a screw-up, I'm not going to argue with him. Obviously he knows something I don't.

The three of us head off to school silently, well, almost silently. Wendy seems to notice how awkward things are between Lucy and me, so she's talking enough for all three of us. Lucy isn't talking, which is strange, because she usually tries to at least engage in the conversation a little bit, but right now she won't even look at me. Normally _I'm_ the loudmouth, but right now I need to talk to Lucy alone, since I'm pretty sure she doesn't want Wendy to know about what she told me this morning.

Then Romeo, Wendy's friend who walks to school with us in the morning, runs up to us and he and Wendy run further ahead of Lucy and me, talking about whatever Middle Schoolers talk about. I could kiss that boy, that's how happy I am that he pulled Wendy away from Lucy and me. Now I can talk to her alone.

I open my mouth to say something, but Lucy beats me to it. "You don't have to say anything," she whispers softly, still not looking at me. "I understand."

My chest starts to hurt when I register the utter defeat in her voice, as if she already expected this to happen. It's just like the first time we met, how she looked at me and what she said. _"Are you going to hurt me too?"_ That was the worst thing I've ever heard. It was like that's all she thought she was good for, letting someone hurt her. It made me sick, it still does.

"No," I murmur, "you don't understand." I turn to face her, catching both of her hands in mine and gently positioning her to face me as well. "Lucy, I'm so sorry that I couldn't say anything earlier. I just didn't know what to say to make things better." It surprises me when she doesn't pull her hands away from mine. "I don't know if I _can_ make things better, but I still should have tried. You deserve that much and I'm so sorry," I tell her.

Her eyes snap up to meet mine, widening, and I see something like affection in her eyes. "Natsu—"

I shake my head, cutting her off. "What they did to you doesn't matter, not to me," I declare gently, one of my hands trailing up her arm and circling around her waist. "Nothing they did to you will change anything." Her eyes soften and she sends me a small smile. "It doesn't change the way I look at you," I continue. "It doesn't change how I feel about you."

"Natsu," she says again, eyes misting over. I start to panic as a single tear runs down the side of her face. This is just not my day. First I find out that my best friend was raped when she was younger, then I make her feel horrible after she tells me what happened, and now I've made her cry. I'm an awful person.

"No, no, no. Lucy, don't cry," I manage to choke out, alarm clear in my voice. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to make you upset, just—please don't cry!" I can't deal with crying girls. Especially not Lucy or Wendy, who are _my_ girls. No one gets to make them cry. Mostly because I'll beat the shit out of anyone who makes them cry, and partly because I'm useless when girls cry. I have no idea how to make them feel better and I just seem to make things worse in the end. Now, I'm the one making Lucy cry and I still have no idea what to do.

Lucy let's out this little laugh that sounds more like a sob, and then she wraps her arms around my chest, burying her face against my shoulder. "These are happy tears, Idiot," she whispers warmly, tilting her head so that it's resting on my collarbone.

I hug her to me tighter. "Okay." I kiss her temple before tucking her head under my chin. "Okay." I rock the two of us back and forth for a moment, pulling her as close to me as I can. "Hey, Lucy?" She hums softly, letting me know that she can hear me. "What's a Brownie?"

She looks up at me curiously, but snickers loudly when she notices that I'm being serious. "You don't know what a Brownie is?" She laughs even harder when I shake my head, I would have been offended, but I don't miss the way she leans into me, lips brushing against the side of my neck gently. "They're house elves," she tells me, still chuckling. "They help with house chores at night, but only if they trust the people living in the house. Why do you think I leave out little bowls of honey every night?" That makes more sense than whatever I was thinking.

"Why did they hide my clothes under the bed this morning?" I blurt out without meaning to.

"They were probably playing a trick on you." I nod and it takes me a second to realize that I never want to let her go, but by then it's too late, the moment is ruined.

There's a scream and Lucy and I spring apart. I look around and notice that I can't see Wendy and Romeo anywhere, and I think Lucy realizes it too, because suddenly she's running towards where the scream came from. I follow after her as quickly as I can. I'm fast, but I know that Lucy's faster, she's an Ollphéist after all.

I watch Lucy turn a corner into an alleyway and skid around the same corner seconds later, just in time to watch Lucy rip some woman away from Romeo, who's lying on the ground. Wendy is just staring at him, pressed tightly against the wall of the alley. She's crying and I have no idea what happened, but I have a feeling that I'm about to find out.

Lucy snarls at the woman she just shoved away from Romeo, who scrambles to his feet and darts over to Wendy. The woman squawks back angrily, and suddenly brown and black feathers are pushing through the skin on her face and arms, her feet turning into sharp talons that she tries to rake across Lucy's face.

I know what she is.

"Harpy," Lucy snaps, elongated canines flashing dangerously. "Why don't you go back to the shadows where you belong?" she growls darkly, positioning herself protectively between the two younger teens and the bird woman.

"You think you belong anywhere different, Dog?" The Harpy screeches back, laughing shrilly. "You're no better than I am," she laughs out. "Monster!" Lucy doesn't flinch as the Harpy's feathers appear all along her arms, creating giant wings. Claws grow out of her fingers and she swipes at Lucy, who grabs her by the throat and slams her against the wall.

"I don't steal children so that I can murder them, Snatcher," Lucy spits out, eyes flashing from brown to violet and then brown again. Little wisps of flames are dancing along her fingers and I take a step towards Wendy and Romeo, already knowing how much damage Lucy's fire can do when she's angry. "You know," Lucy muses, "I've never liked Harpies." She glares at the now terrified woman. "They give all of us a bad name." Lucy's hand bursts into flames and the Harpy shrieks in terror as they lick across her skin.

"But you're an Ollphéist too," the Harpy cries out, looking at Lucy pleadingly. "You're just like me," she continues. "You should want me to kill them!"

Lucy suddenly releases the Harpy, and next to me Wendy flinches. I cant help but do the same. Is Lucy actually agreeing with her? Romeo, who's on the other side of Wendy, wraps an arm around her, covering her with his own body, and I step in front of both of them, shielding them with my arms. I don't know what Lucy's doing, but I don't like it.

The Harpy, noticing that Lucy's arm is no longer attached to her throat, lunges for the three of us, and I think it's over. I'm going to die, and so are Wendy and Romeo, and Lucy isn't going to stop it. The Harpy's claws are inches away from my face, when Lucy suddenly reaches out and shoves her roughly against the wall, which caves in upon impact.

"I'm nothing like you," Lucy roars at her. "It doesn't matter that we're Ollphéist. You are not my family," she snaps, pressing the Harpy harder against the wall. "I don't like the way you do things." The fire sparks again and the Harpy cries out in pain. "Harpies are hated by both mortals and Ollphéist alike, their only purpose is to spread discord wherever they go, singing songs and telling lies." She leans in lose to the Harpy's face. "I should kill you," the Harpy lets out a sob, "but I won't. Crawl back to the shadows before I rip out your tongue," she spits violently, practically crushing the Harpy's windpipe in her hand. "Do I make myself incredibly clear?"

The Harpy nods slowly, shivering, and Lucy releases her death grip, letting the sniveling creature fall to the ground. "Crystal," the Harpy stutters out, feathers and claws disappearing slowly. "You're a Kitsune aren't you," the Harpy murmurs, crawling to her feet. "Those flames… They burn hotter than any Lycan's."

Lucy stills for a moment. "Leave, before I change my mind." The bird woman quickly nods, then darts out of the alley as fast as possible. Lucy relaxes, but then she rounds on Wendy and Romeo just as quickly. "What the hell were you two thinking!" she barks at them, shoving around me to glare down at them. I briefly think about pulling her away from them, but I know that she won't actually hurt them.

"It was my fault," Wendy cries out, pushing Romeo slightly away from herself. "She said she had a question for us and—"

"And you believed her," Lucy finished darkly. "Harpies are nothing but liars, they'll say anything to get you close enough just so that they can stab you in the back the second you're close enough." She glares down at Wendy. "Fool," she spits, "you could have been killed."

Wendy looks down, ashamed. "I—"

"Worse than that," Lucy continues, not letting Wendy say anything. "You could have gotten Romeo killed too, is that what you wanted?"

"No!" Wendy shouts back. "I didn't—I thought—I'm sorry," she sobs, looking about ready to cry. Wendy sinks down to the ground and buries her head against her knees. "I'm so sorry," she whimpers.

Lucy sighs and crouches down in front of her. "You scared me," she whispers softly, making Wendy look up at her. "You screamed and—and if I had been a second later, Romeo would be dead right now, and that could have been you instead." Her hands clench into fists at her sides. Lucy stands up slowly, pulling Wendy along with her. She looks at all three of us one at a time. "Not all Ollphéist are as nice as I am, most would kill you as soon as look at you. Don't ever forget that," she warns us.

Her eyes lock with mine and I see the raw fear there, and it makes me step forward and wrap my arms around her, pulling her flush against me. Wendy and Romeo join the hug a second later, and we become one giant mass of tangled limbs. I feel Lucy tremble against me and I realize just how terrified she really was. I sweep my hand over her back and she sinks into me easily. "That's my girl," I whisper in her ear, feeling her smile against my chest a second later.

**{We were meant to be.}**

**AN: As always reviews receive a preview of the next chapter.**

**Sorry this I out so late, I just took the ACT recently, and after that I found out that my mom's cancer is back. Writing was hard to do for a couple days.**

**Title refers to Wendy and the Harpy and the song **_**The Bird and the Worm**_** by Owl City (I think it fits Natsu and Lucy in a cute way).**

**Check out kyssi's Fairy Tail Fan Awards here on FF, nominate and vote for your favorite fanfics.**

**Fun Fact! I added Happy in at the last minute. He was never supposed to exist in this story, because I had no idea how to fit him in, but I did! He's here! And he's snarky!**

**-Riven**


	4. Kyuubi

**AN: Another long wait. Sorry. I was working on **_**The Raven**_**, which took forever to finish. Then I wrote the first chapter of my new story **_**Shenanigans**_**, my new Naruto College AU story about Team 10.**

**EDIT: Not an update! I was doing something and accidentally deleted the chapter! Sorry guys! Thanks for reviewing (for those who did and those who will)! **

**Ollphéist Álainn**

**Chapter Three: Kyuubi**

**(There's something beautiful and tragic in the fall out.)**

_"So," I start awkwardly, "how does all of this work?" I ask the blonde sitting across from me. She cracks an eye open and glares at me while sighing. I'm mirroring her position, well, I'm trying too. I don't really understand meditation, but apparently it helps Lucy, so I'm willing to at least _try_ and concentrate. It's just so boring though. "The meditation and stuff, I mean."_

_ Lucy's other eye opens and she rolls both of them in annoyance, but I can see the smile on her lips. She's been happier lately, like the dark shadow that used to rest over her is gone. I'm glad that it is. Lucy looks really pretty when she smiles. Her eyes light up and her smile makes me feel warm for some reason._

_ She's been with us for nearly a year now, and she's really started to open up to all of us. She's still reserved, but at least she trusts us now, and she actually talks to us and laughs with us. It makes me happy that she's happy, that she can smile, because she has a really pretty smile._

_ Lucy sighs loudly, drawing me from my thoughts, and stretches her legs out in front herself. She raises her arms up over her head, smiling in satisfaction at the resounding '_crack_' that splits through the air between us. We've both been sitting in the same cross-legged position all day. Well, Lucy has. I tried, but only lasted about a half-hour before giving up._

_ "What do you mean?" she asks me, her amber eyes locking with mine. Her pupils flicker into thin slits for a split second, then return to normal as if it never even happened. Her eyes have always unnerved me slightly. Partly due to her pupils changing shape, but also because her eyes flash a dark violet whenever she uses her magic._

_ I watch as she pats Happy on the head, scratching behind his ears and running her fingers over his back. He purrs in response, arching up into her hand. Lucy smiles down at him as the blue Exceed crawls into her lap and opens one lazy up to look at her. He yawns then, and his tail wraps around her wrist like some sort of furry bracelet._

_ "Why do you meditate?" I ask her. "What's the point of it?" She smiles at me patiently and laughs under her breath, legs stretching out further to brush against mine._

_ "For me," she begins, "meditation is important. It helps me control the daemon part of me," she explains, giving me a fanged grin. "This way I can channel the built up energy inside me without actually using my power." She chuckles and Happy purrs loudly, nuzzling her stomach lightly. "I can't exactly go around lighting things on fire now can I?" she jokes._

_ I pretend to think about it. "Well, you could," I tell her seriously. "But we might get some complaints from the neighbors," I warn. Lucy waves me off, and embers fly from her fingers, dying before they touch the ground. She looks mortified as she realizes what happened, she's always been extremely careful about using any form of magic around us. It's because she doesn't want to accidently hurt any of us though. According to Lucy, Ollphéist aren't able to fully control their powers until around the age of sixteen, and Lucy is only fourteen._

_ "Sorry." She smiles at me sheepishly, but there's also something like fear in her eyes, and I don't like that. It's like she's afraid that I'm going to hurt her for not being able to control herself, but I would never do that. I promised that I would never hurt her, and I meant it. "This is part of the reason I meditate. I still have a little over a year before my power settles down and I can control it. The meditation speeds up the process and helps me center it."_

_ I just nod, not quite knowing what to say to that. Meditation bores me, but if it helps Lucy that's great. I don't want her to be afraid of hurting us or herself. _

_ There is one other thing that sort of bothers me though. "So, what's the whole thing with the tails?" I ask curiously. It's something I've never understood. Kitsune are called the Demon Fox, the Fire Fox, and most commonly the Nine-Tail Fox. I've never seen Lucy with more than one tail though, so it doesn't make sense. "So you just have one tail? Or do you actually have nine?" I feel like an idiot for asking, but I know that Lucy won't hold it against me. She's always been really patient when it comes to things concerning Ollphéist. She knows that I'm practically helpless when it comes to Ollphéist knowledge._

_ "Wow, Natsu, you really are stupid," Happy cuts in, smirking at me. I know he's only teasing, but does he really have to be so mean? He laughs and stands, climbing out of Lucy's lap and into mine. He rubs the top of his head against my chin and then grins at me. "Lucy doesn't have a tail right now," he laughs and taps my right cheek with his paw. "I think you'd see it if she did."_

_ Lucy chuckles under her breath and moves to sit next to me. "He doesn't mean right now, Happy," she chides jokingly, poking his nose. "In answer to your question, Natsu, the number of tails a Kitsune has depends on their strength and the amount of power they're exerting." She sighs. "And their rage," she whispers._

_ "What?" I ask, not sure if I heard her right or not._

_ "Nothing," she says gently, shaking her head. "Anyway, a Kitsune always starts out with a single tail, they're called Ichibi. As a Kitsune gains strength and control they slowly gain more tails, but while we're in our fox form the number of tails that appear depends, again, on how much power we're exerting." She looks at me and her amber eyes pierce mine, freezing me in place and holding me there. "Whenever you've seen me as a fox I've never been fighting or angry, so I've only ever had the one tail."_

_ I nod, slowly digesting the information while getting lost in her eyes. Happy jabs me in the ribs suddenly, making me cough, and then he jumps onto my shoulder. "Way to be subtle," he murmurs dryly, snickering._

_ "How many tails do you have right now?" Lucy looks surprised at the question, but then she smiles shyly. She looks incredibly cute, but I don't dare voice this. Happy would never let me live it down, and he'd probably tell Dad, who would tease me about it too._

_ "I have three at most, which makes me a Sanbi," she tells me. Her grin is infectious and her eyes are impossibly bright with excitement. This is one of the things I love about Lucy, she's so full of life despite whet happened to her in the past. "One day I hope to be a Hachibi though."_

_ "Nine-tails?"_

_ Something dark takes over her face and her eyes turn an angry violet, making me freeze. "No," she spits angrily. "An eight-tails," she says sternly, confusing me. I'm not sure why she sounds so angry all of a sudden. It's strange, Lucy rarely gets angry._

_ "What's wrong with being a nine-tails?" I ask softly. Happy has gone stiff on my arm, and I'm not sure what to think of that. Either he's just as confused as I am, or he knows something that I don't. The latter seems the most likely. _

_ She sucks in a shaky breath and her eyes turn back into honey. Without thinking about it, I place my hand over hers, threading my larger fingers through hers. She glances at me fleetingly, and then her eyes dart to the ground. "Every Kitsune has the potential to become a Kyuubi, a nine-tails," she starts slowly, "but it's dangerous."_

_ I frown and tighten my grip on her hand. "Why is it dangerous?" My voice sounds strange, even to mean. I sound soft and gentle, which is odd to me._

_ Lucy shivers suddenly, and a high-pitched keening sound leaves her throat, almost like a whine. She pulls her legs up to her chest and wraps her free arm around her knees. "According to our old legends there were once nine demon gates, each representing a tail, so to speak." She squeezes my hand tightly, but it doesn't hurt. "They called themselves the 'Kurai en', the 'Dark Circle,' everyone else just called them Kyūkimon, literally the 'Nine Demon Gates.'" Her voice is shaking and her breathing is shallow, which makes me worry, so I brush my thumb over her knuckles. She visibly relaxes after that. "Anyway, the ninth gate, Myobu, he started a war with the other gates, and they banished him."_

_ She falls silently and I give her hand a gently squeeze. "And then what?" Happy swats my ear and I catch his glare from the corner of my eye._

_ "Not just any Kitsune can become a Kyuubi anymore," she says, shrugging. "It's possible, but it can be chaotic if someone becomes one prematurely. People can get hurt." She bites her lower lip suddenly, eyes not leaving the ground. I don't really want to ask, but I know that Lucy will never explain if I don't, and I have the feeling that this is something I have to know about, for my sake as well as Lucy's._

_ "What does that mean?" Happy slides off my shoulder and onto Lucy's knees. He leans in close to her ear, and I can see his mouth moving, but I can't tell what he's saying. Lucy replies lowly, and I wish I could understand them. He places a furry paw on either side of her face and then presses his cheek against hers. "Lucy?" I whisper._

_ She looks at me. "There's an incredibly low chance that a Kitsune will reach nine-tails safely," she whispers. "For a Kitsune to gain it's ninth tail prematurely, means that their feelings of hatred and rage have given them the sudden power to obtain the last tail, because of the intense dark emotions. The only problem with that is that the Kitsune isn't strong enough to handle the last tail." Her hand squeezes mine again. "They lose control of themselves: mind, body, and soul. Our inner daemon takes complete control and we can't come back. The sudden transformation is just too much to take. We lose the fight and we kill people." She sighs heavily, looking completely worn out. "You can probably guess what happens next." _

_ I don't have to guess. I already know. The Legion Corps takes them out, executes them. Murders them. I'll never understand the Legion. They call Ollphéist the killers, but the only one's dying are Ollphéist. It's all just a huge lie to justify murder._

_ "Oh, Lucy," I murmur under my breath. "I'm so sorry." Suddenly she's right in front of me, hands on my shoulders and a wild look in her eyes._

_ "Natsu," she barks. "You have to promise me that you won't let me become a Kyuubi," she says hurriedly. "You have to promise me that you won't let me hurt anyone, you have to promise to kill me if that happens." Her hands are gripping my shoulders unbelievably tight__—__and it _hurts_. Lucy is actually hurting me, but I don't have the heart to tell her to let go. Her breaths are coming in shallow gasps, she's hyperventilating, and she looks terrified. "Natsu, you have to promise me, you have to__—__"_

_ I pull her into my arms, cutting her off. I wrap my arms around her back tightly, but gently. Her body is between my knees, resting flush against me, and I can feel the sobs racking her body. My chest feels tight at the realization, and I pull her even closer, letting her cry into my chest. "I promise, it's okay, Lucy. I promise, everything is going to be okay. You're okay, it's okay." Her arms wrap around me and a heart wrenching cry leaves her lips. She buries her face against my neck and I try to ignore the salty liquid running across my skin._

_ I barely notice Happy patting her back reassuringly, whispering things to Lucy in a language that I don't understand. It doesn't really matter though. I don't care if there is a monster inside Lucy just waiting to break out. Lucy is Lucy, nothing is going to change that. She's family, and I'll love her no matter what._

* * *

><p>I stop walking, making Lucy look up at me curiously. I have no idea why that conversation suddenly came back to me, but I don't like it. What Lucy said to me that day, about the Kyuubi, it doesn't sit right with me. Lucy was so terrified at the thought of hurting people, and it scares me too. How could Lucy—strong, sweet, caring Lucy, how could she ever hurt someone like that?<p>

I refuse to believe it. It won't ever happen. I promised her that she will never become a Kyuubi, and I meant it then, and I mean it now. I won't ever let her lose herself, because if Lucy loses herself, that means I'll lose her too, and I can't let that happen. I can't lose Lucy, she means too much to me.

From what I've learned about the Ollphéist, there's something beautiful, yet tragic about the Kitsune. Once a human gains their trust, they'll protect them with their life, and their magic is something to be feared and respected. Their hearts are as warm as their fire and Dad once told me that seeing a battling nine-tails is one of the most amazing things in the world. They're graceful and powerful, and when they move it's like they're dancing through their flames. Their magic burns hotter than any other, yet the fire is also delicate.

The tragedy is that the same power they use to protect and defend, can also kill. The stronger a Kitsune is, the closer it is to losing itself to the darkness. It's not fair that that can possibly happen to them. It just isn't fair, but nothing really is, not for them.

My hand clenches into a tight fist at my side. I can't let that happen to Lucy. I just can't. Moreover, I won't. I promised I would let her lose herself, and she trusts me to keep that promise.

"Hey." Lucy's hand grips my arm lightly, her amber eyes shinning with worry. "Are you okay?" she asks softly, keeping one eye on Wendy and Romeo, who are several paces ahead of us now.

I can tell that she's still on edge. She hasn't let Wendy and Romeo leave her sight since our group hug in the alleyway, and I can understand why. I feel the exact same way she does. I could have lost Wendy, and that thought terrifies me, because Wendy is still far too young to die. The difference is that Lucy was able to stop it, I wouldn't have been able to. I would have been just as helpless in that situation as Wendy was, and that scares me. I wouldn't have been able to do anything except buy the younger two some time to get away.

The Ollphéist are strong, and maybe I could handle a Harpy for a few minutes, but she would have ultimately killed me in the end. People I can handle, super powered demons, not so much.

I smile down at her and tuck her into my side, wrapping my arm around her shoulder and pulling her with me as I start walking again. No, I'm not okay. Wendy could have been killed, and thinking about what happened to Lucy leaves a bad taste in my mouth, but Lucy has enough to deal with right now.

She frowns up at me, but she doesn't protest to the hug at all, and my smile widens as her arm snakes around my back and she molds herself into my side. This is one of the things I love the most about our relationship. She fits perfectly into my side.

"I'm fine," I promise. "I was just think about—do you remember when you first told me about the Kyuubi?" I ask quietly, mindful of Wendy and Romeo's prying eyes. I grimace internally. Maybe I should just stop asking questions for now. They already got me into enough trouble today, and school hasn't even started yet. I can't wait to see how the rest of the day goes. At this rate I'll probably end up being arrested, or worse, I'll make Erza mad at me and she'll kill me.

Well, I would hope that Lucy wouldn't let Erza kill me. As long as I don't make Lucy mad she probably won't let me die. I'm joking of course. I know that Lucy would never just let me die.

She glances up at me. "Of course I do," she says. "I practically drowned you in my tears. It wasn't exactly my proudest moment." I snort and Lucy smiles slightly. "Why do you ask?" she questions curiously, looking up at me, her head tilting to the right slightly. I nearly laugh at the small action. Lucy has always done that, and I have no idea why I find it so amusing, but for some reason I do.

"Have you ever met one?" That question has always bothered me a little bit. Lucy looked so afraid when she was talking about the Kyuubi, and there has to be something she didn't tell me then. Maybe she knew one, or maybe she didn't, but I still have to ask. I'll never know if I don't ask.

"I have," Lucy says lightly, her fingers twisting into my shirt. I raise my hand and link our finger together smoothly. "I'm related to one." I look down at her, surprised. Whatever it is expecting her to say, this certainly isn't it. "My father was a high level Hachibi." Her lips twitch into a sad smile and she sighs heavily, sinking further into me. "When Zoldeo's men caught us, well, he tried to protect me. And his anger unleashed the ninth tail, but he couldn't control it," she tells me dejectedly. "You can probably guess what happened next. I can, but I don't want to think about that.

I frown at her sadly. "Lucy," I murmur gently. I try really hard not to get angry at what she said. Every bad thing that's ever happened to her seems to involve that bastard Zoldeo. Is there anything he didn't rip away from her? I feel slightly sick as something like relief floods through me. I can't help but be happy that her father died and not her, and I know that that's a terrible thought, but I can't help it. Lucy, she means the world to me, and I don't know what I would do without her. I lean down and press my lips against her hair, breathing in her scent. Lucy smells like home, as strange as that sounds. If home smells like cherries and almonds, that is. "I'm so sorry."

I can practically hear the smile in her voice. "Don't be," she whispers back. "My father, Jude, he was a great man and an even better father. He tried to protect me, and in the end he lost himself. He failed, but at least he tried, and that's one of the best things anyone has ever don for me." Her voice cracks and I pull her close. "I refuse to say that he was killed by the Legion Corps after losing his mind. He died protecting something he loved, that's all. He had more dignity than that." She stops walking and turns toward me, wrapping both arms around me, and burying her face against my chest. "So don't be sorry that I met you," she demands, "and don't be sorry that I'm okay now, and I'm happy, because that's all that matters now." She squeezes me gently. "Yes, my father died, and yes, I was taken in by a real monster, but then you found me, and isn't that something good?"

My heart clenches in my chest, squeezing almost painfully. I think I understand now. I think I understand why Lucy was so scared before, why she doesn't want to be a Kyuubi. Lucy's father lost control of the beast, and so she lost him. Now, she's worried about doing the exact same thing to everyone who cares about her. "You are so amazing," I tell her, letting my lips brush against her ear lightly. I press my mouth against her temple, breathing the words against her hair. "And I'm going to keep my promise, even if it's the last thing I do." I love this girl so much. I don't know how it happened, but she managed to sneak her way into my heart. The least I can do if protect her from her power, I owe her that much. She's my best friend, but it's so much more than that. I wouldn't know what to do without her.

"Don't say that," she chides. "Everything is going to be fine." She pulls back and grins at me. "Now come on, we don't want to be late for school." I groan, but let her drag me towards the school entrance. I have no idea when we got so close to the school, but I wasn't really paying that much attention anyway.

"Lucy, you know I love you and all, and I love spending time with you, but can we please skip school today?" I hate school, I really, really do. It's just so boring. Lucy stops suddenly, and I nearly run into her back. She doesn't turn around, and she doesn't say anything for a long moment. "Lucy?"

"Natsu," she says slowly, suddenly whirling around and dragging me down by my tie. My face is just centimeters shy of touching hers, and that thought makes my heart skip a beat. I briefly wonder what would happen if I leaned forward. "You know I love you—" I freeze as her nose bumps against mine, and I can swear that my heart has just stopped in my chest. "But if you ask me to skip school one more time, I swear I'm going to burn off your eyebrows." And then she shoves me backwards.

I can't help it, I laugh. I know she's just kidding about the eyebrow threat, and I'm glad she's feeling well enough to joke around with me. It's been a rough morning for her. From her nightmare, to telling me what happened to her, and then her having to fight off another Ollphéist. I do feel slightly disappointed that she didn't actually kiss me though, but I immediately real back at the thought. What am I thinking? I should be thinking about Lucy like that. She's my best friend, and—and I shouldn't be thinking about kissing her, especially after what she told me this morning.

Suddenly Wendy slams into my chest, hugging me tightly and pulling me away from Lucy. A strange gurgling noise leaves my mouth, and I feel mildly embarrassed as Lucy laughs. These girls are going to be the death of me one day, I can feel it.

"Bye, Natsu," Wendy says, releasing me and then latching onto Lucy instead, who stiffens briefly at the sudden contact. "Bye, Lucy." She smiles at us and waves and then disappears in the crowd of Middle Schoolers heading to the right. I send Lucy a smile, but don't have time to say anything before someone else walks up to us.

It takes me a half second to realize that it's Jellal. The tall bluenette frowns down at the two of us, the red mark on his face distorting as he does so. "There's blood on your face, little sister," he murmurs under his breath, gesturing to Lucy's cheek. Her eyes widen and she quickly swipes at the crimson mark. I'm surprised that I never noticed it before, then again I was never looking. "What happened?"

I try hard not to smile. Jellal acts like he's Lucy's older brother, most of the guys do, but Jellal is different. Because he's an Ollphéist like Lucy, he knows what it's like to be ridiculed and hurt by people. Luckily the tall male is enough to scare off some of the people who try to pick a fight with Lucy, he's just that intimidating.

"We had a little trouble on the way here," I tell him. He raises a brow at that. "Harpy." His eyes widen, and he scans both of us for any sign of outward injury. "We're all okay," I tell him. "Lucy took care of it," I say, bumping said girl with my shoulder. She roles her eyes at me, but smiles at Jellal.

"We're fine," she says seriously. "It's all right, Jelly."

I lose it. Lucy is the only one who can get away with calling Jellal "Jelly." He hates being called that, and one time he nearly ripped off Gray's head for calling him that. Figuratively of course.

Jellal shoots Lucy a glare, but then rolls his eyes. "Come on you two," he grumbles. "Class is about to start." I groan and Lucy grabs my hand before I can escape, practically dragging me to class.

On the way there we pass by our teacher Gildarts Clive. He looks angry, and I can just barely hear what he's saying. "We aren't supposed to have a guest speaker today, I didn't know anything about a guest speaker." I exchange a look with Lucy, but she just shrugs. Jellal, on the other hand, purses his lips and nudges the two of us forward.

We filter into the classroom wordlessly, and I wave to Gajeel and Gray in the back. I take my seat next to Lucy just as Gildarts enters the room, frowning and glaring at the ground.

"Class," he says grimly, his usual smile not present. "It seems we have a guest today." My smile drops, Gildarts never talks like this, usually he spends the first ten minutes of class ignoring us until Gray and I start fighting, then he breaks us up and starts to actually teach. "Id like you to welcome Byro Cracy, Captain of the Legion Corps." I turn to Lucy, horrified, but she's already exchanging a look with Jellal.

This is not good.

**(But I love her anyway.)**

**AN: Yay! All done! I hope you guys enjoy the chapter. Sorry if the end isn't the best, it's like one in the morning right now.**

**As always, reviewers will receive a preview of the next chapter!**

**I still have no plot for this T.T**

**People keep talking about Naruto References... I don't really read/watch Naruto, not a lot anyway. Do you guys mean the fact that I used words like Kyuubi, which literally means "nine tails?" If anything here seems like a Naruto reference it's probably just an accident. I only watch Naruto because Team Ten is badass. I love them!**


	5. Those Who Do Battle With Monsters

**AN: Currently sick :( Sorry this is super late. I'm trying to get back on schedule, but it's been hard lately. I've had a book to read for English, math homework almost every night, and I rewrote chapter one of OoF (which was a whopping 9000 words, damn), then I wrote chapter two of Shenanigans and a Halloween one-shot. I haven't had time to work on this, but hopefully I'll be able to start updating once a month again. Maybe.**

**Ollphéist Álainn**

**Chapter Four: Those Who Do Battle With Monsters**

**(Can we live a life of peace and happiness?)**

Zentopia's Legion Corps Captain, Byro Cracy, stands at an intimidating six-foot-five, towering over everyone else in the room by several inches, except for Gildarts, of course. Gildarts is nearly the same height, save for maybe a few centimeters. It's unreal. I have no idea how this guy can be so tall. He's practically a giant next to me, and I'm not exactly a slouch in the height department. Sure, I'm not as tall as some of the other guys, but I'm still well over five-foot-nine, this guy is just a monster. I smile bitterly, scoffing lightly. He's probably a monster in more ways than one.

I stare at him some more, not entirely sure why I can't look away. I just know that I have a really bad feeling, and it's not just because a man that kills Ollphéist is standing less than twenty feet away from me. Maybe it's because the Legion captain looks grim and calm, as if he has nothing to be afraid of even through he's completely out of his domain. He isn't in charge here, but he sure seems to think he is. Another unsettling thing is that his white hair is styled in an eerily similar version of the way Laxus keeps his.

That's almost funny. Laxus hates the Legion more than almost anyone I know. He wants them all to burn in the most violent way possible. Not that I blame him for wanting that to happen. The Legion is nothing more than a demon pretending to be an angel. Darkness hiding under the guise of being light.

I don't understand how people seem to think Legion is this all powerful savior when it's just a cleverly hidden monster. I guess that people will believe whatever they want, so long as they can stay blind to the destruction around them.

Shrewd gray eyes sweep across the room, and the Captain straightens, muscles bunching and tensing under his skin. His grip on the staff in his right hand tightens, and the armor covering his torso gleams brightly, obviously well taken care of. I can tell that this man prides himself in being a soldier to the Church, despite the terrible things they do. I can also tell that he's ready for anything. He's ready to kill—I can see it in his eyes. He wouldn't be afraid to kill anyone in this room, as horrible as that may sound. He wouldn't even _flinch_.

I frown, eyes darting along the armor again. The staff is silver, I note to myself, glancing at it again. He really is ready for anything, it seems. Silver can be dangerous to Ollphéist; it slows down their regenerative properties to that of a normal persons, sometimes even lower, to dangerous levels. Silver, usually in the form of a bullet or a knife, doesn't allow an Ollphéist to heal as quickly as usual, so a well placed shot or slice could leave them bleeding to death slowly, for hours or even days seeing as no one would be caught dead helping them. According to Lucy, it also burns and can be used as a method of torture. The burns never stay though, healing too quickly to leave scars, so there isn't any proof that silver really causes damage. That's assuming that they would live though.

That's one of the worst parts. The Church can hurt and mutilate Ollphéist, but because of the regeneration the outward scars never stay for long. There's no proof that the Church is nothing more than a monster hiding behind its god. They can get away with anything in the name of Zentopia. It's sick—It's sick and it's wrong, but there isn't anything I can do to stop it. I can't _change_ anything.

Next to me, Lucy growls lowly and starts to stand up, but I catch her wrist before she can, panicking slightly. The Legion Captain looks at us briefly, frowning, and I can feel something like terror flood through me. There's no telling what he might do if he finds out that Lucy is an Ollphéist. Grimacing, I tighten my grip on Lucy, waiting for the other man to look away. This could end badly. If Lucy were to pick a fight with this man, Jellal would probably join in. And since Jellal has no master, the Church would take him and—

I glance at Jellal out of the corner of my eye, wincing when I do. He's practically shaking in his seat, though I'm not sure if it's with anger or fear. I'm not sure I want to know. His bangs are covering his eyes and he has one hand over the red mark on his face, hiding it. He knows what would happen, too. The hand falls from his face slowly, clenching into a fist as it settles on the table, but he doesn't look up, just stares at the wood in front of him.

The fact that someone as impenetrable as Jellal can be affected like this, it's unreal. He's a rock. Usually anyway, I've never seen him like this before.

Lucy growls again, quietly this time, and I turn back to the front. The Captain isn't looking at us anymore, he's whispering something to Gildarts, who looks well past frustrated and tense. Gildarts notices me staring and frowns, missing something that the Captain says and scrambling for an answer. The Captain's lips pull back in a snarl as he hisses something at Gildarts, ignoring us.

I release the breath I didn't know I was holding, sinking back into my seat slowly. I had no idea that having someone _look_ at me could make me so tense. He wasn't even doing anything. He doesn't know that Lucy and Jellal aren't entirely human—and if I have a say in it, he never will. Everyone is going to be okay. Everything is going to be just fine.

Lucy tugs her wrist from my hand, balling it into a tight fist, nails digging into her palm hard enough to draw blood. I've never understood how people can draw blood and never realize it—focus, I guess. It just seems odd that you can be injured and not even notice. Doesn't it hurt? Do you not feel it at all?

My gaze shifts from her hand to her face, and I'm more than shocked to see the rage in her eyes. A hint of violet is starting to creep into the right one, proof of her growing anger. I've seen Lucy mad before—hell, she was pretty angry earlier when Wendy and Romeo were nearly eaten by that nasty bird-lady—but never this mad. She needs to calm down before—a flicker catches my eye, something bright and warm. It's a flame, dancing across her fingers dangerously, growing larger and hotter every second.

Well, shit. That's certainly not a good thing. Why is it that everything bad happens on Mondays? All day has just been horrible and it's not even nine in the morning yet. There's still another twelve hours or so for things to get worse. Wow, aren't I a cheery individual?

Anyway, fire. Fire is already a hazardous element, obviously. It burns things, and usually that isn't a good thing—unless we're _trying_ to burn things, which we probably _shouldn't_ be. I really don't think my mom would be happy if I just came home and went, "Oops! I'm suspended for accidentally starting things on fire! Sorry, Mom!" That would _not_ go over well.

So, yeah, fire is bad, but livid fire is even worse. It's reckless, out of control and wild. It spreads faster than normal and, from what I know, it burns hotter than usual, as well. If Lucy loses control of herself because she's angry, people might get hurt.

I grimace. A lot of people would get hurt. This is a small room, and Kitsune fire ignites the fastest. It can incinerate anything within seconds and considering that I don't want this room to end up being a human barbeque—

"Hey," I murmur, catching her hand in mine. Oww, okay, that's hot. That is really hot. Literally, her hand is sort of on fire at the moment. It hurts a little, since, you know, I'm a little closer to her fire than I'd like to be, but I ignore it in favor of calming her down. "Lucy, simmer down," I tell her, tightening my grip. I look at Gildarts for a second, checking to make sure the Captain is still distracted and only relaxing slightly when I realize that he is. "He's Legion. We don't know what he might do if—"

"I know," she hisses back, shooting me a sour look as she extinguishes the tiny flames. The violet in her eyes disappears in an instant, but they're still unusually cold. "I'm fine." She frowns, but then her lips curve back in a snarl, teeth bared. "I just don't like this. I don't want him here." She winces. "If he finds out about Jellal and me…" she trails off, looking at me expectantly. And I know. I know what he would do.

I lace my fingers with hers. "I know, Lucy, but everything is going to be fine," I promise, smiling at her. Her amber eyes search mine for what feels like hours, and though I'm not sure what she's looking for, I really hope she finds it. Her lips press together in a tight line, but then she nods slowly and gives me a weak smile before turning back to the front, hand leaving mine. My own smile falters. Everything is going to be fine, right? I glance at Lucy again, watching as she glares at Byro Cracy discreetly, distrust practically radiating off her.

I certainly hope so.

Gildarts finally turns back to the class, arms crossed over his chest and a sneer spread across his face. Captain Cracy doesn't look any different than he did earlier, just slightly more pleased. Whatever Gildarts and the Captain were arguing about must not have been good, considering that the Captain is _happy_ about it.

It's never a good sign when your enemies are happy about something. Especially if they happen to be high ranking military officials sent by the Church to murder and destroy nonhuman creatures—one of which being your best friend—and there being two of said creatures in the room, yet the earlier mentioned military official doesn't know it, but will most likely kill them if he finds out. Not that Captain Cracy is my enemy. Well, not really. It's kind of a one-sided thing. He's sort of, but not really, my enemy, but he doesn't know I exist. And I'm okay with that. I think.

Great, just great. Did I ever say that I hate Mondays? Because I really do. Mondays really suck, and today has been terrible and it's probably just going to get worse. I do not need things to get worse.

Gildarts clears his throat. "As I already said, it seems we have a guest with us today," he grumbles, none too happy. "Please, give your attention to Captain Cracy." He shoots the man one more dark look, then glances at me briefly, then Lucy. Slowly, he raises a single finger to his mouth, pressing it to his lips in a silencing gesture.

As if I didn't already know that.

"Mr. Clive," someone shouts, followed by a loud banging sound, "why is he here?" I turn, shocked to see Jellal standing with his hands pressed against his desk. Jellal is usually the reserved one, I've never heard him raise his voice like this before, or stand up to someone like this. His lips curve back in a snarl, and I can't help but think that his teeth look a little bit larger and sharper than they normally do. "He shouldn't be here."

"Jellal," Lucy whispers from my other side. I glance at her, grimacing at the terror in her eyes. "Jellal, don't. It's not worth it," she murmurs urgently.

As if he heard her, Jellal shifts nervously, bangs covering his eyes as he slinks into his seat. "I mean," he corrects himself, "shouldn't a high ranking officer be doing something _besides_ talking to a bunch of teenagers." He coughs awkwardly, eyes on the ground.

Gildarts clears his throat uncomfortably. "Jellal," he says slowly. "Mr. Cracy has taken the time out of his day to… _educate_ us on the history of Zentopia, please be more respectful." The sour look on Gildarts face is almost funny, but the current situation is not appropriate for a comical reaction.

It's too tense in here. Gildarts has one hand on the knife he keeps strapped under his desk—the one I'm not supposed to know about, Jellal looks halfway to picking a fight, and Lucy is already running on a short fuse. The three most dangerous people in this room are all ready to burst, and that is the opposite of a good thing.

Captain Cracy steps forward, his staff slamming against the floor, the bang silencing the whispers in the room. His gray eyes glare at everyone, and I notice a few people flinch at the cold stare. "My name," he rasps, "is Byro Cracy. I am the current Captain of the Legion Corps, the elite military division of the Zentopia Church." Everyone stays silent. "As most of you already know, the Legion _takes care_ of Fiore's… _pests_," he spits the last word like it's a curse, and Lucy bristles.

"Pest," she hisses mockingly. I silence her with a hand on her arm, shaking my head when she looks at me. She merely scoffs again. "Rather a 'pest' than some so called 'God.' "

"Excuse me," someone in the back says. "But, what does the Legion Corp do?"

Captain Cracy frowns, his hand clenching tighter around his staff. "I just stated that we take care of Fiore's pests, or were you not listening?" His eyes narrow as a few people snicker, hand tightening on the staff. Next to me, Lucy shrinks back, staring at the heavy, silver staff, a low noise leaving her throat. "We eradicate the beasts that walk among us, we stop them before they can do what they always do." He growls. "The Ollphéist are nothing but bloodthirsty monsters. They would kill you as soon as look at you. You should be thankful that the Legion destroys them before they can."

Lucy makes a sound similar to a whine, but says nothing this time, only grips the desk hard enough that cracks begin to appear. At first, I think she's angry, but when I look at her, I see nothing but terror in her eyes. This man is honestly scaring her. Not that I'm surprised. Lucy knows the extent of human cruelty better than I do.

I wish I knew what's running through her mind right now—probably nothing good. The Legion being here is bad, really bad. The Legion being around is never _good_, but it's strange that they're making school visits now. They shouldn't be able to do this, not with the separation of Church and State. They can't come here to teach. Besides, Zentopia is more of a cult than anything. They shouldn't be _allowed_ here. Why did Gildarts even let them in? Why would the Corps even come all the way here from Crocus?

My eyes widen, and I gasp without meaning to. I get it now, why Gildarts wasn't expecting this, why Jellal was acting so strange earlier, so on edge, and why Lucy is so angry and practically on the verge of a panic attack. Legion is here for a reason, and—

"Zentopia was first created to honor and worship the great God of Eternity, Ouroboros," Captain Cracy says, cutting off my train of thought. "And also to protect the great Infinity Clock, a gift from Ouroboros that was lost many centuries ago. Stolen by the monsters and later destroyed." His frown deepens, something I thought would have been impossible. "A pity, as the clock could have been used for great things."

I frown for a moment, but realize I must have missed a question. Apparently it's time to learn about Zentopia and why they exist. Sounds like fun. Assuming that you call learning about the origins of the people in charge of a mass extermination "_fun_." Which I _don't_.

Captain Cracy continues. "The Legion was created later, four hundred years ago, during the first wave of the Ishtar war." He snarls. "As you all know, Ishtar was destroyed when the Ollphéist attacked us. They killed thousands of people, destroyed homes, and it was all because those bloodthirsty monsters had nothing better to do." He straightens his back, standing tall and proud. "We've been hunting them ever since."

The class falls silent. Everyone knows about Ishtar—what's now Crocus; the capital was built over the remains of the destroyed city, though I have no idea why. It's not something anyone likes to talk about. One city brought about a war that enslaved the Ollphéist unjustly. A few thousand people died in one day, but now Ollphéist are slaughtered daily, more than the lives lost in Ishtar. It isn't fair, and it isn't right, but Zentopia doesn't seem to agree.

I sneer, crossing my arms. Zentopia never seems to agree with anything. They preach about protecting the innocent, yet kill others. Their sense of what's "right" has been twisted in so many different directions that I don't know if they even realize that things have changed in this world. Things aren't like what they used to be. Things are different now. Laws have changed.

Not that I care what they do. Zentopia will do whatever it wants, and they'll destroy whoever they want, and they'll get away with all of it, because people actually believe them. There are people that believe they're heroes sent out to protect them. People don't seem to realize that Zentopia is nothing more than a cult hell-bent on mass genocide. And I don't understand how they don't notice it. Maybe it's because "ignorance is bliss" or something like that. Maybe they want to be ignorant, maybe they just don't care, maybe they aren't _good people_. There is no way a good person would worship Zentopia. A good person wouldn't be involved in that.

A good person wouldn't sit by while they kill other creatures for no reason other than they feel like doing so. A good person wouldn't do that.

"You're wrong," Lucy snaps suddenly, surprising me. I turn towards her, even more shocked to see the fire in her eyes. "That's not what happened," she says, quieter this time, swallowing thickly, eyes widening as she realizes she spoke out loud. All eyes turn to her, and she slinks down in her seat, flinching when the Captain's eyes land on her. Her eyes rip away from his accusing ones, and instead she stares at a mark on the wooden desk in front of her, tracing the swirls with her eyes. She sucks in a shaky breath, head still bowed. "That's not why Ishtar was destroyed," she finishes shakily, less strong than before.

Without thinking about it I grab her hand again, squeezing tightly. She looks at me nervously, something like regret in her eyes, but I ignore it. "It's fine," I whisper. "It's going to be fine." She nods, responding to my grip with the same pressure. From across the room I hear someone curse, probably Jellal.

Captain Cracy glares at her darkly, lips pulling back. "What did you just say?" he asks. "Could you repeat that for me?" I'm only half sure that he's threatening her, but I really hope I'm wrong. I glance at Jellal, wincing when I do. Judging by the rage on his face it _is_ a threat. Jellal and Lucy have always been better at noticing thinly veiled threats that I have. Not that surprising, if you ask me.

Lucy looks up at the Captain again, straightening in her seat. "You're wrong," she says again, her voice like thunder in the suddenly silent room. Captain Cracy falters briefly, surprised by the strength in her words and the glare she's sending him. I'm surprised too. Lucy is brave, but I never knew she was _this_ brave. You know, the stand-up-to-the-guy-who-wants-to-kill-me brave. This isn't like her at all.

Captain Cracy snorts, shaking his head like the mere idea of him being wrong is ridiculous. "And how," he says, sounding more than a little amused, "am I wrong?" he asks her. "Tell me, Little Girl." Is that a mocking tone? Or is it just me?

I'm going to go with the former, considering the way Lucy bristles like an agitated animal.

Lucy takes a deep breath, calming herself down. Her hand squeezes mine one more time, and then she begins. "The Ollphéist originally came from the land you call Enca. That was their homeland until humans found them and brought them here to Fiore. The first contract between an Ollphéist and a Master, was that of a woman named Mavis Vermillion and a high level Kitsune—a Kyuubi named Zeref," she explains slowly. "There was an…" she trails off, "accident. Mavis was killed by a lower level Lycan that was being used by a group called F.A.C.E.—the founders of what is now called Zentopia." Her glare darkens. "Do not forget that your Legion has experimented with Ollphéist before. You've used them as weapons more than one time throughout history." The Captain says nothing. "Zeref lost control of his demonic half once Mavis was killed, and he ended up massacring the city of Ishtar," she spits. "It was practically a one-sided war. He took down everything that came at him, even the other Ollphéist.

"Zeref was taken out by the renamed Legion Corps, and it could have been left at that, but the Legion wasn't satisfied with only one Ollphéist dead." She snarls at him. "Your Legion murdered every Ollphéist in that city left alive after Zeref's rampage, even the innocent ones. And the Ollphéist did nothing. The Ollphéist did nothing until Enca was destroyed by your bombs. Then they fought back." She lurches to her feet suddenly, her chair slamming to the ground. "Do not pretend that the Legion was the victim of the war!" she shouts. "Ollphéist were enslaved or slaughtered, sold on the black market and tortured by your Zentopia because of one destroyed city and—"

"Enough, Lucy," Gildarts says calmly, not raising his voice to her. The brunet man looks at her, shaking his head slowly. "Now isn't the time for that."

Lucy looks baffled. She takes a step back, nearly tripping over the fallen chair. "But, Gildarts, he—"

"Enough, Lucy," he repeats. She shakes her head, but relents. I place the chair back into an upright position and she sits down again, shaking in anger.

No one says anything for a long while. There are people whispering to each other around the room, but I pay no mind to the wisps of conversation. Lucy has her jaw clenched shut and she's glaring at Gildarts, who's too busy staring at Captain Cracy to notice the dark look. Shaking her head again, Lucy curses under her breath in a language I don't understand. Well, I'm assuming that she was swearing. There isn't a lot else she would be mumbling under her breath. Unless she was actually cursing someone. Wait, can she do that?

"You know little about this world, Girl," Captain Cracy sneers, walking back to the front of the room. "Know your place."

"More than you," she hisses lowly, not looking at his retreating figure.

Alright, I'm a little confused right now. What's up with Gildarts? Sure, he can be a hardass when he wants to be, but he never stops people from expressing their opinions like that. Maybe it's just because reasoning with a Legion Captain is impossible, but that still doesn't make sense. He shouldn't even be here in the first place.

"Do you have anything else to say?" Captain Cracy asks, looking at Lucy. "Or are you finished?" His staff bangs against the ground again, and for a split second I think I see electricity flicker over the silver, but then it disappears.

Wow, okay. That's not even possible. I think I need sleep. That's probably it. There's no way there was lightning on that thing. If there was, that would be really bad. At least I don't have to worry about Lucy anymore. She's done talking now. Which is good, so long as Captain Cracy isn't noticing her, he can't figure out what she is. That's good. This is—

"Draw a monster," Lucy says. "On the board. Draw a monster." Captain Cracy smiles then, and picks up a marker, humoring her. I don't bother watching him draw, I'm too busy looking at my friend, who is apparently _absolutely insane_.

Why did she do that? Why did she think that was a good thing to say? Yeah, I take it back, this is really bad. Very bad.

"Alright, done." On the board, Captain Cracy has drawn what looks like a Lycan, or something to that nature. That would be what he thinks a monster looks like. "Anything else?"

Lucy clears her throat, arms crossing over her chest. "Tell me why it's a monster," she says sternly, eyes cold.

The Captain laughs, head thrown back and voice booming. "Why do you think?" The laugh dies into a grin and he shakes his head. "It's not human, like us."

"Us?" Lucy repeats, standing again, slowly this time. Gildarts straightens at his desk, suddenly more alert than he was before. And me? I hold my breath. I hold my breath, and I pray that everything is going to be okay. "I think you misunderstand me, Legion Captain Byro Cracy." Fire ignites across her fingers, blue flames dancing over her hands and disappearing in little wisps of yellow and orange. Violet consumes the amber in her eyes, swallowing the light whole and devouring it with the dark. "I'm not human."

Captain Cracy gasps.

Lucy grins, canines lengthening and sharpening. "I'm a monster."

I'm halfway out of my seat when the sound of a gun cocking stops me. I freeze, shifting my gaze to the Captain and the gun in his hand, pointed at Lucy. There are several gasps and shrieks from the class, a few people stumbling out of the way. My heart stops and for a second I can't breath.

"Monster," he murmurs, gray eyes flashing with hatred.

Lucy shakes her head, the fire disappearing and the violet leaving her eyes. "It was your people who brought us here from Enca," she says softly. "Every human that has ever been killed by an Ollphéist has been your own fault. Legion's fault." She looks him right in the eyes and I lose my breath again. "Their blood is on your hands." She takes a step toward him.

The gun clicks and two more members of Legion enter the room. "One more step, Little Monster, and I'll put a bullet through your skull before you can blink." Two more guns are aimed at Lucy, who just laughs.

"That's right," she snickers. "Start another war." She shakes her head sadly. "This time, you won't win," she says so softly I can barely hear her.

**(I don't think so.)**

**AN: I'm so sorry this took so long to write! As stated above, I've had several other things I've been working on, and then this gave me some trouble. I'm still not too happy with how this turned out. I'll fix any mistakes tomorrow! **

**Be sure to review and receive a preview of the next chapter! I wasn't very good with keeping up with that this past chapter, but It's because I wrote the preview and then left this for a while!**


	6. AN-don't be mad

I feel really nervous about posting this AN because the last time I did this people got... really angry.

I just wanted to let you guys know that I've decided to rewrite this into 3rd person. Almost nothing is going to change, so don't worry about that. I just feel more comfortable writing in 3rd and feel like the story will flow better.

The next chapter should be up in a week or two.

-Rivendell


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